Mother 4: Forever
by V-Fanfics
Summary: 200 years since the legendary hero, Lucas, pulled the seven needles, new heroes emerge from humble places. Three girls and one young man. Each of them with new psychic abilities! Now, they must fight to save the world from the never-ending evil that engulfs the world in the shadow. Will they win, or will the world be forever kept in darkness? Lots of OCs. Rates T for mild cussing.
1. Prologue: The Legend Begins

__~Prologue: In the Past We Shall Find...~__

* * *

Silence, almost darkness, and hope. Ideas and plans being devised to save their world from ultimate darkness.

The candle that kept the darkness at bay, the fighters of freedom from the dark shackles that kept them from living. There stands a blonde woman speaking to a black haired girl.

"Are you sure it will work?" The blonde haired woman asked, doubt and worry filling her words. "Your words will be very vague…"

"I know what I must say. This must be done to prevent the darkness from taking over. If I do not act, then the world will certainly perish." The dark haired girl replied, her words bearing more wisdom than her age would normally allow. "You will know if I make a mistake. And if anything were to happen to me, you know what to give."

"...Okay. I trust you. And I will do as you tell me." The blonde haired woman replied. "Just please be careful, I don't want to lose you again."

"I understand. I shall not be long." The dark haired girl replied, her face twisting to a smirk. She sharply turned around, facing away from the blonde woman, and slowly walked out of the room. Her boots created little to no sound at all, her dark coat and hair keeping her camouflaged with the darkness.

Walking along the dark path, carrying no source of light, the girl walks the path of many traitors and soldiers. Her hair covered her face, not revealing her identity to anyone. Bones of the dead, and blood of the survivors cover the streets she walks along. However, she pays no mind to them, as she continues to tread that same path.

Until she reached the monster on the other side.

* * *

**Yay! I've begun posting stories again! WOOHOO! Now, if any of you are wondering about Hyrule Academy, yes, I've updated it. But because I am on a long hiatus for it, I've decided to discontinue it for now. I might get back to it another time, but that won't happen for a while. Reason being is because I can't write High School fanfics for the life of me. I'm so sorry if any of you got hyped up for it. **

**Now, on a happier note, a new story is beginning! Yay! And this one is gonna have sadness, it's gonna have romance, it's gonna have epicness, and it WILL! HAVE! CANON CHARACTERS! Yeah! Don't ask me how, you'll see how it happens. Also, for more info on this story, look at my profile. **

**I won't continue to update until my story has been checked and edited thoroughly. I don't want this to be another "The Forgotten Element" incident. So anyway, I hope you liked the extremely short prologue! I might post chapter one out of boredom, because this is too short. Whether I do that or not will remain a mystery. So, without further ado...**

**I bid you all adieu.**

**~V-Fanfics**


	2. Chapter 1: Destined for Greatness!

__~Chapter 1: Destined for Greatness!~__

* * *

In the small village of white roses, found on the small island known as the Nowhere Island, very few people live and work. They live a life of pure simplicity, not being affected by the more modern cities' ways of life. Despite this fact, tourists are frequently visit there, from the hot and relaxing summers to the fun and cool winters.

The people that live there have stories to tell, legends of heroic deeds to tales of the greatest horrors in the world. Even if most people were young, everyone had a story, a tale, a legend, and a history.

One such tale talks about a group of four, a young blonde boy, a tomboyish princess with psychic powers, a thief with a limp, and a small dog saved the Nowhere Island from total and utmost destruction. However, the young blonde boy had to suffer major consequences as he lost both his mother and his older twin brother whom he loved so dearly. This tale was renowned as a legend among those who lived in the Village of White Roses, and also those who came to visit.

Now a new tale is to be brought from the ground to the skies. A tale that will be embedded into the minds and hearts of not only those who live on Nowhere Island, but those same heroes that saved the island, and the ones that came before them, and those before them…

"Yukia!" A young, brown haired girl shouted out, hands cupped around her mouth. "Come check this out!"

An older blonde girl raised her head from the many white roses that bloom in the meadow. "What did'ya find, Lauren? Something interesting, I hope." The blonde girl, known as Yukia, stood and walked over to the younger girl.

"I found a few coins left in the grass!" The brown haired girl, Lauren, smiled brightly as she showed the gold coins. "How much is this?"

"Lets see…" Yukia knelt down before Lauren, examining the coins. "...Sis, these are only worth, like, two DP. You can't really buy anything with two DP."

"...Aw. I wanted to buy mom something nice…" Lauren's head hung low, closing her hands containing the four coins and setting them gently on her lap. "Oh well," She began, raising her head high and smiling innocently, "I guess I'll have to get more of these until I _can_ get something!"

Yukia laughed, patting her sister's head gently. "Yeah, keep dreaming, lil' sis. That won't happen for a while." She sighed heavily as she stood, examining the now orange skies. "It's getting kinda late, maybe we should head back home?"

"It is?" Lauren asked, turning her head to face the horizon. Her surprise melted into a sense of tranquility, one that she felt every time she saw the sun set. "...Okay. Lets go home then. Time sure passes when we're having fun, huh?"

Yukia smiled, noticing her sister's change of mood instantly. "Yeah, lets. I hope mom cooked us some nice, spicy food today." Just thinking about supper made her stomach growl.

"Maybe some nice ice cream to go with it! I hope it's chocolate…" Lauren mused, feeling her mouth water from talking about her favorite thing to stuff her face with.

"Me too. I don't mind a nice bowl of chocolate ice cream after burning your mouth with spicy food!" Yukia smirked, walking alongside her younger sister. Lauren laughed in response, her smile bigger and brighter than ever. "Then again, with the money issues mom's been having since dad left… That probably won't happen anytime soon."

Lauren nodded, seemingly understanding what her older sister was talking about. Yukia, however, knew that her little sister, in reality, didn't understand the world that the adults lived. She never bothered to think or ask about it. But sometimes, Yukia had to live in it.

Like her little sister would ever know about _that_.

They continued to walk, seeing others pass by. Once in a while, they would stop for a quick chat with some other villagers. Most of the time, however, they would wave, and the villagers would wave back. They even bumped into a few lost tourists and showed them the way to another town.

But eventually, it became nightfall before they reached their mother's cabin.

"...Y-Yukia… It's really cold out here…" Lauren shivered, hugging her older sister.

"You think so? I think it's just fine." Yukia said, hugging her younger sister as she continued on the path they took each day.

"..." Lauren remained silent, focusing on her surroundings. She could hear her own footsteps, and her older sister's too. But… Was someone following them?

"...Hold up." Yukia could hear it too. They both stopped, scanning their surroundings closely. Sure enough…

...Someone was following them.

"Hey! Show yourself!" Yukia shouted, balling her hands into fists. "I'll kick your ass if you lay a hand on me or my sister!"

"Do we know them, Yukia?" Lauren asked, holding onto her sister's pant leg.

"Listen to me, I want you to run, okay?" Yukia whispered, patting her sister's head to get her attention. "If it's someone we know, I'll be back soon. If not, I'll be back eventually."

"...Okay, Yukia. Since you are the strongest fighter in the village, I trust you!" Lauren whispered back, worry filling her voice. She prepared to make a run for it. But when she ran…

Someone stopped her.

"Don't think you're going anywhere without my consent." A woman's voice spoke. She had grabbed Lauren by the back of her long, pink sundress. Lauren began to whimper, scared for her life.

"Hey! Let her go!" Yukia threatened, balling her hands into fists. "Or else."

The woman calmly and softly edged Lauren toward Yukia, allowing her to run to her older sister. "Or else what, may I ask?"

"Or else you'll face the wrath of the Warrior of White Roses!" Yukia threatened, getting into a fighting stance. "Come at me!"

The woman smirked in the darkness that clouded her identity. She removed her white gloves, revealing one metal hand and one flesh hand. "I accept. But I will be first to attack."

Yukia grit her teeth, her arrogance taking over. "I insist, I'll do the first attack!" She yelled. "PK ICY BLADE ALPHA!" She extended her arms in front of her, sending shards of ice magic at the woman before her.

Still smirking, but in a more pleased manner, she jumped up to avoid the attack entirely. This left Yukia in complete confusion. "PSI Fire omega!" She extended a single hand in front of her as she sent a burst of flames at Yukia.

"P-PK Shield!" Yukia shouted, defending herself from the attack. However, what she didn't see coming was that the attack stopped. It didn't even reach the shield.

The woman brought her hand down, letting the flames die out. She could see that the younger girl was in front of her older sister, arms out and her eyes closed, tears falling down her cheeks. "D-Don't hurt my big sister… Or else I'll freeze you to death."

Yukia smirked, understanding what was going on. "Have at her, Lauren. Show her not to mess with us again."

The woman sighed, crossing her arms. "Whatever you decide, I will not attack back. It is not in my interest as you should know." She uncrossed her arms, her voice serious. "But I need you to listen to me, for this information you will receive is extremely important."

"Why should we listen to you?" Yukia yelled, pulling Lauren back behind her. "You attacked us!"

"Correction." The woman spoke, interrupting Yukia. "You attacked me first, but I never really attacked you." She put her hands on her hips. "Now will you listen?"

"..." Yukia began to debate this, because she obviously didn't trust the woman. However, it seemed as though the information that would be given to them could be extremely important. So, she sighed and nodded, accepting the woman's request.

"Good. Now I want you to listen carefully." The woman began. She extended her hands out, palms up. "A boy…" She closed one hand, "...And a girl." She closed her other hand. "Both of them wield a special psychic power, much like you two. The names of the two I will not reveal, but their powers are similar to yours. PK Blaze and PSI Code are the abilities used."

"But what do they have to do with us?" Lauren asked, her fear washing away almost entirely.

"And how do you know about our special ability?" Yukia asked, her suspicion rising with each passing minute.

"Simply put, they have a destiny, as well as you. A destiny of heroism and honor. But I'd rather my knowledge about this a secret, for if I reveal anything, it will be quite tragic." The woman continued, bringing her arms down to her sides. "I only ask that you trust me."

"...We just met you, though. How can we trust you?" Lauren asked. However, she did not get a response as the woman walked away, turning her back to them. Silently did she walk, straying from the path to the village.

"...Lets get home, Lauren. Mom might be really worried." Yukia spoke, walking ahead. Lauren blinked, not noticing the distance between her and her older sister. Whimpering, she ran behind her sister, holding her pant leg closely. Not a single word was spoken on the walk home…

* * *

_~At Home~_

* * *

A tall woman sat before a blazing fire, a cup of coffee in her hands. Worry was written upon her face, not a single hint of a smile was visible. However, when the door opened, a smile did form on her face. "Girls?"

"We're home, mom." Yukia spoke, letting in Lauren first and closing the door behind her as she walked in.

"Oh, I was so worried. What took you so long?" The mother asked, setting the coffee on the coffee table and standing up.

"We met someone along the path." Lauren explained, getting a slight stare from her older sister.

"Oh. A tourist?" The mother asked, laughing slightly. "Did they scare you?"

"Actually, she wasn't a tourist. She scared me a little, but she told us that we had some sort of destiny…" Lauren explained, getting a small glare from her older sister. "...Do you know who she is?"

The mother paused. Her smile wiped off of her face, and a look of seriousness washed over her. "A destiny? Did she mention heroism? And honor?"

"...Yeah…" Lauren answered, surprised that her mother knew all of this.

"Did she talk to you, mom? Did you see what she looked like?" Yukia asked, shaking her mother by the shoulders.

"She talked to me, but I could not see what she looked like. Even with the fire." The mother spoke, shaking her head. She softly removed Yukia's hands from her shoulders. "But it is your choice whether to go or not."

"..." Yukia nodded, silent.

"...So… What about dinner?" Lauren asked. Yukia glared at her, not liking her attitude.

"Ya know, it's not the best time for that-"

"Oh! I made it a while ago, let me heat it up for your two!" The mother's smile returned, bright and confident. She opened up the oven and took out the food. "In fact, I kept it in there so when you girls would get here, it would still be piping hot!"

"You're the best, mom!" Lauren cheered, taking a plate into her hands and setting it on the table. As soon as she sat down, she began digging in.

"Thanks, mom." Yukia said calmly, picking up a plate and setting it next to her younger sister. However, she ate considerably more slowly than her younger sister.

"How is it, girls?" The mother asked, sitting in front of them.

"Amafing, mom!" Lauren exclaimed, food still in her mouth. "You're the beft cook evah!"

"Don't speak with your mouth full of food. No one wants to see that!" Yukia complained, gagging slightly on her old food.

"Sorry." Lauren spoke after swallowing her food. She continued to eat in silence after that.

"Geez." Yukia muttered, picking at her food before eating an entire fork-full.

"So. Will you girls go on that journey to find those other two children?" The mother asked, picking up the coffee from the table and walking back to where her daughters were.

"...I think we should. If it's destiny, it can't really be changed, can it?" Yukia asked, her face written with determination.

"I guess we can. I mean, adventures are fun! And if we're heroes, we'll be just like those guys that beat up dragons in the fairy tales!" Lauren exclaimed, smiling widely.

"Or like the hero of legend, that actually existed." Yukia muttered. This caught Lauren's attention.

"He isn't real. A little kid can't be a hero like that!" Lauren argued, crossing her arms.

"Then what are you?" Yukia asked, pointing at her younger sister accusingly. "If you don't think that little boy isn't a hero, then you aren't either. He was older than you when he saved the Nowhere Island!"

"...Oh yeah…" Lauren muttered. "But I still don't believe it." She crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Stubborn brat. I still dunno why you're hailed as the cutie-pie of the entire village!" Yukia complained.

"Then I dunno why you're hailed as the strongest warrior in the village!" Lauren yelled back, insulted.

"Because I earned it with hard work and-"

"Both of you be quiet and head to bed already. You fight like this and those other two children will run away from you!" The mother complained, holding her head and pointing to the girls' room.

"Okay, mom." Lauren and Yukia groaned, sauntering over to their shared room. They dared not to look at each other, for their insults dug deep into their egos and their emotions.

As each sister sat on their respective bed, they looked away from the other. A single candle lit the entire room, only being aided by the moonlight shining through the windows. The room was silent for a few minutes, neither girl fell asleep, or felt tired.

However, the silence was soon broken by the eldest sister. "...Lauren? Are you asleep?"

"...No. Are you?" Came the shy reply.

"No. Not yet, anyway." Yukia answered, sighing. "...I'm sorry for the stuff I said to you." She apologized, turning around to face her younger sister.

Lauren was already turned around, her face sad and gloomy. "I'm sorry too. I know you worked hard to be the strongest warrior, and I should respect that."

"Yeah. It's okay." Yukia smiled weakly, opening her arms and waiting for a hug from her younger sister.

Lauren smiled, getting up from her bed and walking up to her older sister, hugging her tightly. "I forgive you, too." She whispered as she slowly dozed off in her sister's arms. Yukia gently carried the younger sister and tucked her in the bed, soon dozing off in her own… Awaiting the morn of the next day to arrive.

* * *

**Yay! I posted another chapter, because I don't think anyone would be satisfied with such a short prologue. I mean, come on! Anyway, I really hope you liked chapter one! Signin' out for the night!**

**Oh, but before I do that, if I get any flames about my characters, I'll just point and laugh at you. I don't really take offense to flames or insults, really. But, considering I haven't gotten any flames/complaints on my other stories, as bad as they could be, which is surprising. But I digress.**

**Take note: I don't own the Earthbound/Mother series. That series belongs solely to Itoi and Nintendo alone. If I owned it, I'd probably run things differently 'round there.**

**Signing off!**

**~V-Fanfics**

**Note: When Yukia said "PK FREEZE OMEGA!", that was a mistake I looked over. Then I re-read it, and noticed that I described the wrong attack. So, I changed it to her special PK ability, Icy Blade, in it's weakest form. Whoops.**


	3. Chapter 2: Adventure to the Land of

__~Chapter 2: Adventure to the Land of Riches~__

* * *

It was the dawn of the new day. The day where the two girls, destined to be heroines, were to set off on a journey that would define greatness, hope, courage, and trust, but would also reveal the greatest fears, hopeless times, cowardly deeds, and those who cannot win others' trust. But through the pain and suffering, there is hope and light. That is what the truest of true heroes and heroines strive for.

"Mom!" Yukia shouted. "We'll be off, now!"

The proud mother of the two young girls smiled widely. "I'll miss you both. Did you get the money and the nut bread I gave you both?"

"Yeah, mom!" Lauren answered, a bright smile on her face. "But won't you need some of the money?"

The mother giggled. "Not if I have to spend it on you two. Most of the money lost is because of you both." The mother smiled proudly at her two daughters once more. "But I love to spend things on you, even if it means we'll go bankrupt! But don't worry about me, I want you both home safe and sound once you two achieve your destinies."

"Don't worry too much, though, okay?" Yukia shouted as she began walking away from the home she lived in and grew up in. "Love you!" She began to break into a jog along with her younger sister.

"I love you both, girls. Have fun!" The mother yelled back to her children, hoping that she was heard.

Yukia and Lauren broke into a sprint, cheering and giggling as they ran past the village plaza and the gates into the village. Many people saw them run by and heard the news about their new journey. Many wished them luck, while others gave them sincere words of warning. Both girls listened and paid them close attention, but soon ran off in the same fashion as before.

Soon, they reached the forests that connected many villages together...

* * *

"Umm… So where's the next village? We should check there…" Lauren muttered as she looked at the map.

"Try holding the map rightside up." Yukia recommended, flipping the map Lauren held. She snickered as Lauren gasped in realization.

"Golden Gate Village. Sounds like a place where rich people live…" Lauren muttered. "Should we go there? It seems like there's a lot of people there."

"I guess. How long is the trip?" Yukia asked, turning to face her little sister and walk backwards.

"Less than a day, if we keep up our pacing." Lauren calculated. "And if my math's right."

"Considering you're not the smartest, I'll calculate for you." Yukia snatched the map away from Lauren, but her eyes widened as she took a look at the map. "...Did you draw this stupid thing?" She asked, irk marks appearing on her face.

"Yep!" Lauren chirped happily. "Made it myself!"

Yukia ripped the so called "map" and threw it on the floor. "We're hopeless. How the hell are we gonna find a village without a-"

"Are you two travelers?" A female voice asked.

"Who said that?-!" Yukia exclaimed, clenching her fists tightly. Lauren instantly took cover behind her older sister.

"Oh. I'm but a traveler myself. From Golden Gate." The woman responded. Her blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, but her green dress was exquisitely beautiful and not very normal for travel. She held a lime parasol in her hand, protecting her face from the sun. "Do you happen to need directions leading there?"

"What a coincidence…" Yukia muttered. "Yeah, we do…" Yukia began, "...Do you have any?"

"And what's your name, miss?" Lauren asked, slowly poking her head from behind Yukia.

"I'm Grace, one of the villagers in Golden Gate. All you have to do is go forward to get there. Simple, is it not?" The woman, named Grace, pointed forward with her white gloved hand. "I could go with you two young ladies if you like."

"... Okay." Yukia accepted, slightly skeptical of the situation. But if Lauren could talk to her, she wasn't that much of a threat. She and Lauren followed her North, leading to the Golden Gate Village.

* * *

_~At Golden Gate Village~_

* * *

As the name implied, the village was chock-full of rich, posh people. But even if one thinks they would be the snobbiest of people, they were the exact opposite: Kind, sweet, and _extremely_ generous.

"...Wow." Yukia gaped in awe, taking in the lovely scenery of gargantuan houses on small hills or in the city's plaza itself. Shops were lined with expensive clothing and pricy food. The streets were filled with rich, formal people, all of them actually knowing each other.

Lauren gasped in awe as she eyed some of the children walk around in expensive clothing. "They look so… Posh…"

"Of course they do, sweetheart! They have to look nice for this evening." Grace explained, giggling as she spoke.

"This… Evening? What's happening then?" Lauren asked, curious.

"Well, the Mayor's daughter is celebrating her birthday today. I will say this, she is the gem of the village. The absolute prettiest you'll ever see!" Grace spoke, her voice rising, making her sound extremely giddy about the event.

Yukia snickered at her younger sister's reaction, which was to puff out her cheeks and cross her arms while looking away. "...Did I say something wrong?" Grace asked, causing Yukia to laugh aloud.

"Nah. She just needs to get over herself." Yukia explained, patting her little sister's head. "Is there a way we could, ya know, be invited to-"

"Everyone's invited, dear! Even tourists! But they must have the proper attire…" Grace explained. "I guess if I take you there they would be generous…" She laughed to herself, placing her gloved hand on her forehead. "Oh of course they would be! If anyone would be defined generous and selfless, it would be the Mayor himself! He never makes us pay taxes or anything of the sort!"

Yukia gaped at this. How rich was this family? She felt her hope rise by the second. "Do you think they could lend some clothing?"

"Oh, that's the least of what they would lend you two lovely girls." Grace spoke. "I'll take you to them right now!" She offered, walking ahead of the duo. "Come along now, I don't want you to lose me!"

"Alright! Let's go, Lauren!" Yukia exclaimed, dragging her jealous looking sister by the arm.

"Fine. At least she can give me pretty dresses to look better!" Lauren's mood instantly brightened as she thought about the pretty dresses and whatnot.

After a few minutes of following Grace, while meeting a few of the villagers, they had arrived at the Mayor's estate. The golden and platinum gates at the front of the villa was simply nothing compared to the gorgeous building behind it. A large, quartz and limestone fountain with sparkling clean water spurting from the top stood proudly before the abode. The house itself was made with the finest stones and the most expensive woods for the floors. The glass was stainless and shiny, reflecting the sun's rays to those who look upon the house.

"...Wow… This is so… Pretty…" Yukia gaped once more in awe at the amazing architecture. "Why can't we have something like this, at least for a day?-!"

"This is just one of their smaller estates, to tell you the truth." Grace explained, sweat dropping at Yukia's reaction soon after her explanation.

"WHAT?-!" Yukia exclaimed, her voice reaching levels she previously never knew she could reach.

"That's so cool!" Lauren gasped, amazed.

"Yes, it's the truth. But this is where they host parties. The buffet is simply exquisite!" Grace mused aloud, her voice becoming sing-songy.

"Okay we're going in!" Yukia stomped up to the gates, her smile wider than ever.

"If you want to deal with security, walk right in! But if you want to get in without a beating, you might want to leave it to me." Grace suggested, stopping Yukia in her tracks.

"You're right. Sorry, miss." Yukia muttered, slightly disappointed.

"It's no trouble, my dear. No trouble at all!" Grace spoke, her kindness really showing.

"Thank you so much, miss Grace!" Lauren thanked, smiling brightly. Yukia sighed, knowing exactly _why_ she was acting in such a way.

"Oh, it's no trouble dear. Just let me _work my magic_." Grace said. This caught Yukia's and Lauren's attention.

Was she going to… Use Psychic abilities?

"Good morning, sirs!" Grace greeted the two burly security guards. "These two tourists are here to visit the Mayor. I'm sure you both would be kind enough to let him in."

"And why should we let them in, exactly?" One security guard asked, his voice buff and stern.

Silence followed, but soon, Grace turned her head and smirked at them. Yukia and Lauren gave her their full attention, expecting her to use psychic powers.

"These two are descendants of legendary heroes and would like to talk to-" Grace was instantly cut off.

"RIGHT THIS WAY!" The security guards suddenly allowed the two girls in, their tone changing from stern to almost intimidated. Yukia and Lauren sweatdropped, disappointed about the woman's lack of psychic powers, but gave her a kind farewell as they walked through the gates and into the beautiful estate.

As beautiful as the outside of the house was, the inside was twice as gorgeous. The walls were adorned with the finest of paintings and the floors were covered in the most expensive of woods. The archways that led to different rooms were made with the finest designs and the most expensive quartz that could be bought. It was a beautiful home, inside and out.

"Umm, sir? Could we possibly meet the mayor anywhere?" Lauren asked a random person that happened to be walking around. Yukia facepalmed, but as she removed her hand, her eyes widened in surprise.

The person Lauren tapped looked much younger than any of the men that were standing outside the estate's gates. He had lighter brown hair and dark blue eyes with high quality glasses rested on his face. His hair was cut and combed neatly on his head. He wore a nice suit, a tie included. His shoes were shined with a glimmer that shone almost as bright as his eyes.

"You're here to see my father?" He asked, looking at both Lauren and her now blushing older sister. "He's a bit busy right now with the party going on. Sorry."

"Yeah, about the party, we were told that we could come and join, even if we are tourists!" Lauren spoke, nudging the boy in the arm. He nodded, recalling those same words.

"Yes, well, that is true." The boy answered. "Do you have the proper attire?"

"I dunno." Lauren muttered. She then turned to her older sister, asking, "Do we have anything, Yukia?"

Yukia remained silent, her cheeks still a pink tint. Lauren sighed, facepalming. "Yukia. Wake up. You're staring."

"Oh- Wait- What?" Yukia sputtered quickly. "N-No we don't Lauren. You know that."

"I know. I just wanted to point out your awkwardness." Lauren giggled sinisterly, her hand placed over her mouth in mischievousness. Yukia glared at her harshly, annoyed that her sister would even do that.

"Oh. That's no problem. I think we can lend a few." The boy spoke again. "And your names are… Lauren and… Yukia, correct?"

"Yup!" Lauren answered, smiling cutely. _As usual._

"That's my name, don't wear it out." Yukia responded, smirking confidently. "And yours?"

"Alexander C. Jefferson Jr., nice to meet you ladies." The boy, named Alexander, answered, bowing slightly. "I guess I can go fetch my-"

"Alexander! Where is my tiara? I thought I told you not to touch it!" A young girl's voice echoed through the halls of the house. She began to approach Alexander, fuming and angry. "When I find it I'll-" She stopped and noticed Yukia and Lauren, standing there with wide eyes. "Oh hello!"

"Uhh… Hi…" Yukia muttered, waving her hand slightly. Lauren smiled, waving to her as well.

"Are you two special visitors?" The girl asked. "If so, I'm Nicole Jefferson, daughter of Amelia P. Jefferson and Alexander C. Jefferson Sr.!"

"Yukia and Lauren Hartford. Nice to meet you." Lauren introduced herself and her older sister, pointing to each as she said their names. "We're tourists that want to attend your party!"

"Oh! You're the first tourists that actually decided to come to this party!" Nicole chirped. Grabbing Lauren and Yukia by the wrist, she dragged them off. "Alexander's too much of a bore, you should stay with me and my mother!"

"Okay!" Lauren agreed. However, Yukia was a bit hesitant. When she looked back at Alexander, he shrugged and walked off.

Nicole led them to a large wooden door and opened it, letting them in. "Now be careful. If you're shoes and socks are dirty, just leave them in here to be cleaned." Nicole advised, pointing at a basket full of dirty shoes.

"Umm…" Yukia muttered, looking down at her old shoes. "...Good idea." She took off her shoes and placed them in the basket, along with her socks. Lauren followed, being less careful about it. Nicole led them through what looked like a master bedroom.

"This is my mother and father's bedroom. My mother is preparing herself, but she'll always have time to fix you two and make you look beautiful!" Nicole explained, pulling them both into a room. "Especially since it's my party, you'd better look your best!"

"Nicole? What's going on out there?" The three girls heard before soft footsteps were audible. From the now opened door emerged what Yukia thought was someone who rivaled Venus's looks herself. Her gold hair came down in curled locks to her shoulders and down from there. Her deep blue eyes examined all three of them before finally landing on her daughter.

"Mother! These two want to attend the party, but they're tourists and don't have much money." Nicole continued. "Could you lend them something nice to wear?"

"Of course, dear. As long as their cleaned up before they put anything on. Feel free to use the guestroom showers if you like." Amelia offered, smiling as she spoke. Her voice was soft and kind. Yukia smiled back, as did Lauren.

"Thank you, miss!" Lauren chirped, glad that she was actually going to wear a nice dress. Nicole giggled as she pulled Lauren by the arm to one of the guest rooms.

"You can stay with my mother, Yukia!" Nicole shouted before closing the door. Yukia blinked, still confused about the situation.

"Oh dear. Pardon my daughter, she's really excited about this party. It is her birthday, after all." Amelia explained, sighing deeply. "She can be a bit of a handful at times, unfortunately."

"That's okay. I'm fine." Yukia laughed nervously, forgiving her. "I'm near a little brat all the time anyway." She muttered softly. Amelia laughed lightheartedly, enjoying the humor of the older sister.

"The nearest guest room is by the kitchen, and it's one of the larger ones. Once you're done, go ahead and call for me." Amelia continued, pointing in the direction the kitchen was located.

"Thank you. I know it may be rude to ask…" Yukia began, pausing to reconsider, "...But why are you being so generous to one you just met?"

"It's a custom here. I'm not the only one who does it. In fact, others are much more generous than I am sometimes." Amelia answers, a smile still plastered on her face. "It only began because of a penny pinching miser that founded our town."

"Oh. I see. So, it's custom here." Yukia said, understanding why she was being so overly welcomed. She stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before finally turning around and leaving the room. "I'll tell you when I'm ready, okay?"

Amelia smiled. "Of course. I'll go and help you, since I miss having someone's hair to do after my daughter's become so independent."

Yukia nodded, softly closing the door and heading for the room Mrs. Jefferson pointed to. She could see many servants at work, cleaning, cooking, and even a few talking as they did what they were told. However, Yukia began to overhear most of the conversations that each servant had with the other.

"Have you noticed Alexander's growing need to get out of his home? The poor child never gets any fresh air." A man in a black suit said to another.

"Yes, but why do his parents keep him locked up? He's 16 years old, he should be able to get out once in a while." A maid answered as she intervened with a broom.

"So it seems. I guess having a party is nice too. I also heard that two young girls came here as tourists. I wonder how they look." A taller woman in a black suit said to the maid, not noticing Yukia walking by.

'_Geez,_' Yukia thought to herself, '_He never gets to go outside of his house? How has he NOT gotten cabin fever already?-!_' She sighed as she walked into the guestroom she had finally found. She opened the large wooden doors with an archway that read "Guestroom 1" above it and entered the room. The bed was most likely a queen sized one with light, clean blue sheets covering the bed. The pillows were fluffy looking and a sky blue as well, one over the other.

"...Geez, they sure know the meaning of luxurious." Yukia noted aloud, patting the bed sheets. Her eyesight grazed over a white wooden door and she walked up to it. She could see that the light on the other side was off, so she opened the door and flipped the light switch.

It was the bathroom.

The entire room was encased in marble, the window covered with shutters. The shower/bathtub was quite large, probably enough to fit two people. Hell, even the _toilet_looked nice. Yukia felt like she would just faint, but she tried to make sure she wouldn't pass out on the ground.

"Okay. Just calm down, Yukia. You'll be fine. You'll be… _fine_." Yukia said to herself, breathing in and out steadily. She sighed as she walked up to the mirror that stretched along the wall. She saw herself in the mirror, her gold, short locks of hair bundled up in a small side ponytail on the side of her head. She even closely analyzed her ocean blue eyes. Seeing this she smiled.

She looked okay, but she had a feeling she would look twenty times better after this little makeover…

* * *

**Alright. I am now officially posting chapters for this story! No, this will NOT end up like Hyrule Academy where I simply began work and then I lost interest. I WILL FINISH THIS WHETHER I LIKE IT OR NOT! I have made a commitment!**

**I hope you enjoyed chapter 2! Signing off!**

_**~V-Fanfics**_


	4. Chapter 3: The Party of the Pigmasks

__~Chapter 3: The Party of the Pigmasks~__

* * *

"...No, that simply will not work!" Nicole complained as she sighed in annoyance. "Try this one."

"I think it's nice…" Lauren muttered, but was ignored by Nicole. She recoiled as another dress was shoved at her face.

"This one should work. It's pink and looks much better than that _green _one, don't you think?" Nicole asked, interested in her answer.

"Umm… Actually, you're right. This pink one is _so_ pretty!" Lauren agreed, picking up the dress and stretching it out on the bed before her. It was a long, frilly, light pink gown. It was long sleeved that slightly fell off the shoulder. It had an almost regal look to it.

"This dress was one I used a long time ago. I don't wear it often anymore." Nicole explained, flattening out one of the sleeves. "You can wear it for the party tonight. I insist, actually!"

"You won't hear fighting from me! This dress is really pretty!" Lauren smiled widely, giggling as she imagined herself in the dress. "Can't wait to try it on!"

"I think I should do your hair and makeup first, though…" Nicole muttered, rubbing her chin in thought."Then again, the party is starting soon, so-" Nicole stopped herself as she noticed Lauren's speediness when putting on the dress. Getting back into her train of thought, she ran into her bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"...Uh, Nicole?" Lauren called, confused at Nicole's sudden reaction. However, before she uttered the girl's name again, Nicole bursted from the bathroom with a bag full of makeup and a _lot _of jewelry,hairpins, and bows.

"Let's try some of these!" Nicole chirped, carefully placing her load on the bed. She opened the blush case and began putting it gently on Lauren's face.

"Aren't you gonna put that creamy stuff on my face first?" Lauren asked, still confused. She coughed slightly at the amount of blush in the air.

"Foundation? Oh, no." Nicole answered, putting away the blush and getting the eye makeup out of the large bag. "The soap you used was good enough, it makes your skin look absolutely flawless!"

"Cool!" Lauren exclaimed, watching as Nicole stood before her.

"Now close your eyes. I'm gonna put some eye shadow and eyeliner, it'll make you look really pretty, trust me!" Nicole told her as she dabbed one of the squares of eye shadow. Lauren did as she was told, feeling the gentle placement of eye shadow on her eyelid.

"Nicole, do you like your big brother?" Lauren asked, curious. She could hear Nicole sigh, almost annoyed at the mention of her older brother.

"Not really. He acts like he's depressed all the time. I don't see why, though." Nicole answered, switching from eye shadow to eyeliner.

"Oh. How come you don't like him?" Lauren asked, _still _curious. "I-I mean, if you want to answer my questions."

"It's fine. I don't get to talk to people very often, so this is really fun." Nicole admitted, laughing slightly. However, she calmed down very quickly and answered Lauren's first question. "Well, first off, he is an anti-social creep. He walks around the house as if he has no purpose being around. It really freaks me out."

"Does he ever leave the house? And if so, why not?" Lauren asked. Nicole finished placing the eyeliner and closed the lid, sighing softly and placing it in the big bag. Lauren opened her eyes and turned to look at Nicole fiddling around her bag.

"Unfortunately, neither me nor my brother are allowed to leave anymore." Nicole explained, her face slightly upset. Lauren blinked, confused. How come they couldn't leave the house anymore? Did something happen?

"Why not?" Lauren asked.

"My parents told Alexander about it, and he told me…" Nicole explained, but paused for a second, "...It's because of this weird but very strong army called the Pigmask Army 2.0."

"...Pig...Mask?" Lauren repeated, trying to stifle herself from laughing. Nicole smiled slightly too, enjoying the humor of the name as well.

"Yeah. Funny name, right?" Nicole asked, getting an excited nod from Lauren. "But the name is… What do you call it..? Oh, a huge _juxtaposition_ from the power of their army. They're really, really-"

"Juxta-what now?" Lauren repeated, unfamiliar with the word. Nicole giggled slightly at her ignorance.

"Relationship between the name of the army and the power they have over us." Nicole explained. Lauren's mouth created a small o, showing her understanding of the "translation".

"So they're bad guys, huh?" Lauren asked, getting a slow and solemn nod from Nicole. "I see… Well, lets change the subject, huh? This is your birthday, and you can't be sad on your birthday!"

"No duh!" Nicole exclaimed, her normal, excited self returning to the surface. "Okay, just some lip gloss and mascara and you're makeup is done!"

"U-Uh, okay." Lauren muttered, but before she could say anything else, she saw the mascara brush get close to her eye. She tightly shut her eye, hearing Nicole laugh.

"Open it." Nicole ordered, poking the eye gently. Lauren opened it cautiously, but she knew she shouldn't have. As soon as her eye was opened a sliver, Nicole opened it for her.

"Alright, now hold still." Nicole ordered as she skillfully and quickly put the mascara on one eye and then the other. "See? Wasn't that bad, Lauren!"

"..." Lauren blinked, surprised and still confused. She turned around to see Nicole fumbling around the makeup bag for something. "Umm… Do you need help?"

"No, no! I'm fine, Lauren. I'll find that lip gloss in here somewhere…" Nicole exclaimed, laughing as she continued to fumble around the bag. As she moved and shoved stuff in the bag, something small fell out of it.

"...Is this it?" Lauren asked, picking up the small object and holding it before her face, examining it closely. Nicole raised her head from the bag, sighing in relief.

"That's the one." Nicole said, getting the lip gloss from Lauren. She carefully applied it on her, making sure that she didn't mess it up. "...You're done!"

Lauren searched for a mirror, picking it up and holding it up to her face. Her green eyes scanned the makeup on her face, examining the detailed work. Some of her long, brown bangs got in the way of her face, so she moved them slightly, not wanting to touch her face and ruin the expertly done makeup."You're really good at this!"

"I'm not a master, but thank you for your kind words." Nicole boasted, giggling. She examined Lauren's dark brown hair closely, thinking about what she should do with it. Suddenly, she had an idea. "I know!"

"What?" Lauren asked, slightly worried at her sudden outburst.

"I'll put your hair in a bun and put a huge green ribbon on it! And these emerald earrings will match perfectly with the rest of your outfit, even if green is my least favorite color. Oh, and don't worry, they're clip ons." Nicole chirped as she fumbled for a hair tie and a green ribbon. Getting the items she needed, she quickly and effortlessly put Lauren's hair up and tied a small green bow on the top and clipping on the emerald earrings on the girl. "There, now you're completely done!"

"This looks great! You're awesome, Nicole!" Lauren praised, happy with how she turned out. Nicole smiled, standing up.

"While I get ready, you can go ahead and meet up with your sister. My brother's a bore, so don't even bother talking to him again." Nicole said, walking into the bathroom with the makeup bag and accessories. Lauren opened the door and left the room quietly, hearing the sound of music playing somewhere.

Quickly, she followed the sound, expecting to find her sister there somewhere. She began to pick up her speed the louder she heard the music. She could hear the violins, cellos, and even the piano. The closer she got, the louder the sounds of people talking became.

"Oh, there you are, Lauren!" She heard. Lauren turned her head to see Yukia, and her eyes widened. Her older sister dressed in a less regal-looking gown, but it was still beautiful nonetheless. It fit her like a glove, it's blue color shining in the light that lit the entire room. Her makeup was barely visible, but what was visible was the light eyeshadow and lip gloss. Her short, golden blonde hair was let down from it's side ponytail.

"Yukia! You look so… Different! A good different!" Lauren gasped, running up to her older sister.

"You look older than you should with that dress of yours, and all that makeup, too." Yukia commented, smirking. Lauren laughed, understanding what she meant.

"So, where's Alexander?" Lauren asked, looking around what she guessed was the party room, taking note of the small band and large amount of people. "I wanna talk to him."

"I dunno, he's a bit of an antisocial one, isn't he?" Yukia muttered. "Even his sister hates him."

"I know that, Nicole told me." Lauren muttered back, a bit upset. "But I wanna talk to him."

"About his sister?-! Are you crazy?-!" Yukia hissed, appalled at her little sister.

"No not his sister. I wanna know about… Some army called the Pigmask Army 2.0." Lauren whispered in Yukia's ear. Yukia blinked, not recognizing the name.

"Pigmask army? Mrs. Jefferson told me that there was some army that was after the riches of this village, but she never stated what army." Yukia whispered back, confused. However, she couldn't help but snicker slightly at the name of the army itself. Honestly, what kind of army would name themselves the "Pigmasks"?

"Nicole told me that it was the Pigmask Army." Lauren whispered back. "And not only that, they're the reason that Alexander and Nicole can't leave the house!"

"No way! Really?" Yukia gasped, keeping her voice down so no one would hear her.

"Really. Oh! There he is!" Lauren exclaimed, seeing Alexander appear from the corner of her eye. "Alexander!" She called out to him.

Alexander paused, turning to face Yukia and Lauren. He smiled, recognizing them both. He quickly walked over to them and greeted them, smiling as he did.

"Hello, you two. Looks like my mother and little sister did a great job helping you both get ready for this, haven't they?" Alexander asked, looking at how formally the girls are dressed.

"Yeah! Nicole's a natural at it, I tell you!" Lauren chirped. Alexander nodded in agreement, looking closer at both Yukia and Lauren.

"You two are most likely the two best dressed in here. Everyone else is wearing stuff they normally wear each day." Alexander whispered, causing Lauren to giggle and Yukia to flush an embarrassing shade of red.

"Y-You think so?" Yukia asked, her cheeks a beet red. Lauren snickered at her sister's reaction, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Yeah." Alexander answered simply. Then, Lauren's snickers ended as another question formed in her head.

"Alexander, do you mind if I ask you a more… Personal question?" Lauren asked. Yukia's face instantly lost it's redness as she glared directly at her little sister.

"_Lauren. Don't._" Yukia hissed darkly at her. However, being the annoying young girl she was, Lauren ignored her and waited for Alexander's answer.

"...Uhh… Sure, I guess." Alexander answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "But wh-"

"Why do the Pigmasks want the money of the entire village?" Lauren asked, her tone becoming serious. Yukia was prepared to smack her little sister upside the head, but before she could even say or do anything, Alexander sighed and nodded.

"Come with me. This needs to be discussed in private. Talking about that army is quite... _Controversial._" Alexander whispered, walking to an archway. He turned around under the arch and beckoned them to follow him. Shrugging, the girls followed him into the next room.

They continued walking, passing room by room until they reached a dark, quiet room. Alexander opened the door before the girls and let them in first, allowing him to follow close behind. He instantly turned on the dim lights, which revealed what room this was.

It looked like an extremely large library.

"This is my study, where I stay day by day and read books." Alexander explained, sitting on a nearby couch. He pointed to the couch in front of him. "Can you two sit here so I can explain? I hardly think it's comfortable to stand with those heavy looking dresses of yours.

"Oh, yeah, sure." Yukia nodded as she sat next to her younger sister. "So, can you answer us?"

Alexander remained silent for a few seconds before inhaling deeply and beginning his explanation. "The pigmask army is an extremely strong army that is planning to invade the capital of our island. Apparently, they have a history of existing two hundred years in the past."

"Wait, two hundred years ago? How come we haven't heard about them until now?" Yukia asked, confused and surprised at the new information.

"It's only legend," Alexander continued, "that there was a young boy with blonde hair, a man that was once part of a band, a tomboyish princess with strange power, and a dog. Together, they defeated the pigmask army and their leader, Porky Minch."

"...That legend?" Lauren whispered to herself, recalling the fable their mother would read to them almost every night of their lives.

"Yeah." Alexander answered. "That's the reason that the pigmask army was defeated. But for some reason, they appeared again and began demanding money from us for some project they're doing. We were going to agree, but then we decided that it was way to cruel!"

"What were they doing?" Lauren and Yukia asked in unison, both as curious as the other. Alexander sighed, shaking his head.

"What they were doing… Was something they did long ago, but this time, it's on a larger scale." He answered, his voice shaking in fear. "They're abducting children from orphanages and abandoned children and turning them into half robots that serve the army. I hear one of them is only an eight year old."

"WHAT?-!" Yukia shouted, outraged completely. "That's sick!"

"Does that mean they'll take me?-!" Lauren shrieked, hugging Yukia around the waist in fear.

"I don't think so." Alexander answered, patting Lauren's head. "If they do come here, I won't let that-"

"Shh, hold on." Yukia ordered, holding up her hand to silence him. Alexander blinked in confusion.

"What?" He asked, but was shushed again by Lauren. She did the "cut it out" hand motion, swiping her hand in front of her neck.

"...Why don't I hear music?" Yukia asked, allowing Lauren to release her grip on her older sister.

"...Did it end abruptly or something?" Alexander asked. "It didn't even reach the second movement."

"Something's going-" Yukia was interrupted by another song she could hear. It sounded like it was coming from a set of loudspeakers, and she could hear it loud and clear. The sound of trumpets were heard, but the song seemed…

...Terribly familiar to her and Lauren, but they couldn't put their finger on-.

"...Oh god no." Alexander whispered, paling. He bursted out of the room, Yukia and Lauren following close behind. No doubt about it,

It was the theme of the Pigmasks.

"Stay here!" Alexander commanded, removing his silk gloves and running off. Yukia blinked, baffled.

"Wha, hey!" Yukia shouted, running after him. Lauren paused, picking up the gloves, and ran behind her older sister.

Yukia turned her head as she continued running. "Come on, Lauren! Hurry-" She got cut off when she bumped into something.

Or rather, some_one_.

"Hey! *oink* Get out of the way, stupid girl!" A man in a pig suit ordered, shoving Yukia and elbowing her hard in the gut. Grunting loudly, she fell on the floor, clutching her stomach in the blow.

"Yukia!" Lauren shouted, running close behind. She saw the men dressed in pig suits and skidded to a stop, shaking in her shoes. "...Oh no…" She whispered to herself.

"Sir, is she one of those we need?" The pigmask asked another pink pigmask. The second one shrugged, not knowing the answer. However, the first pigmask shrugged and turned to Lauren, engaging in combat between them both.

"Don't think I'll go easy cuz you're a girl!" The pigmask said, getting out his weapon which looked like a stun gun.

'_Okay, remember what Yukia told you. Don't use it up, but use it when you need it most._' Lauren thought to herself, extending her hands before her. On both, two fingers were pointed at the pigmask, and she began to focus her mental energy on her special ability…

"PK Icy Wind Alpha!" She yelled aloud, commanding a large gust of wind to hit the single pigmask soldier. She could hear him shout as he was frozen into ice.

"W-What just *oink* happened?-!" Another pigmask shouted, worried for his own safety. "C-Commander! A soldier's been frozen solid!" He ran to the front of the room, to a small, dark figure.

"Where is he?" The dark figure responded with a surprisingly young-sounding and high-pitched voice.

"Back there. A young girl and a teenage girl are accompanied by the eldest male child of the family." The pigmask reported, saluting to the figure.

"What is that thing it's talking to?" Yukia whispered to Alexander. He shrugged, not knowing the answer himself.

"I think it's their commander. But, he… or she… is really small…" Lauren observed, squinting her eyes to get a good, clear look at the person.

The commander turned around to face them, turning on what looked like was a headset. A glowing piece of glass slid over her left eye, graphs and information appearing on the glass screen. However, her right eye was covered in her dark black hair. She untied her long hair from the ponytail it was in before, allowing it to fall to more than halfway down her body. Her light blue and strangely glowing eye stared directly at the trio, but her stare was completely blank and void of emotion.

And yes, she looked like an eight year old girl.

"Terminate them. We have no time to deal with their insolence." The young commander ordered, pointing in the trio's direction. They took quick notice to what was on her arm… A large cannon.

"Excuse me?-!" Lauren shouted, easily offended by the rude remark. She began running towards the commander, only to be stopped by her sibling and Alexander.

"Don't attack, it's too dangerous! She could kill you with that cannon of hers!" Alexander pleaded, struggling to hold the raging young girl back. Lauren immediately stopped struggling as soon as she heard that phrase, but her courage returned as she looked to her sister for some backup.

"Just stay back here with us for now, okay?" Yukia asked, pulling on Lauren's arm. Lauren huffed loudly, crossing her arms and staying in place. She already didn't like the commander… Whoever or whatever she was.

"Tch, can't even keep her emotions in check. What a pitiful thing she is. There's no chance she'd survive in my army." The commander muttered to herself. She turned to one of the pigmasks. "Terminate them if they do anything funny, I'll bring in my troop to control the area."

"Yes, ma'am!" The pigmask answered, saluting to her as if he was afraid of her. The young commander nodded as she walked off, her long, dark cape flowing as she walked.

"They're completely ignoring us…" Alexander observed, blinking in surprise. "Even if we are a threat."

"How cocky can that commander get?" Yukia asked, very annoyed at the attitude of the commander. "She treats us like we're a dung beetle she could easily swat."

"...Hey, look!" Lauren pointed, whispering softly. She could see Nicole waving down to them to get their attention. Her long golden hair was curled beautifully, and her white dress was flawless, but it wasn't the time to think about that now.

Nicole mouthed silently, "Get up here through the stairs!" She began pointing to her right, indicating the stairs were closeby. Lauren nodded, giving her a thumbs up and silently guiding Alexander and Yukia out of the room.

"What did Nicole want?" Alexander asked. Lauren shrugged, continuing to run up the stairs to the second floor.

"She's most likely gonna help us get out of here before that commander's 'troops' get here." Yukia muttered, running up the steps along with the other two. "Or something else entirely."

"I hope it's the former, I just wanna get out of here." Lauren whined, running ahead of her older sister. As she stopped on the top step, before her she saw two blonde females and one, proper looking male with brown eyes and light brown hair.

It was Alexander C. Jefferson Sr.

"F-Father…" Alexander whispered. The father nodded, smiling weakly under his mustache.

"Darling Alexander… we are so sorry." Amelia apologized. She refrained from letting tears fall before her son and his newest friends. "We should have told you sooner…"

"..." Nicole remained silent, a look of guilt on her face.

"W-What are you talking about?" Alexander asked, surprised and worried. "Please, tell me!" He begged, sounding desperate. Yukia almost felt sorry for him.

"I'll say it, Amelia." Alexander's father offered, getting a solemn nod in return. "You two young ladies, Yukia and Lauren… We knew you would come on this day at this time."

"W-What? How?" Yukia asked, gaping in awe. How did they know? Was it…?

"A strange woman appeared to us the night before. As mysterious as she was, she had a strange beauty to her as well. But I digress," Amelia continued, interrupting her husband, "she told us that our eldest son would be leaving us to go with two young girls, both with special PSI abilities of their own."

"...So… Alexander has what ability..?" Yukia asked, curious. The family looked at one another, confused about the question.

"Here, I'll show you." Alexander said, sighing. He lifted one hand, two fingers lifted upwards.

"PK Blaze Alpha." He muttered, letting a large burst of flame ignite on his fingers for a few seconds. As soon as it disappeared, Yukia clapped slightly, amazed at how powerful the move seemed to be.

"Pfft. Mine's better." Lauren pouted, crossing her arms. Alexander smiled a bit at this, shaking his head.

"...By the way, where are my silk gloves?" Alexander asked. Lauren shoved said gloves in his face, still pouting. He gently takes them and puts them on, moving his hands in the glove.

"...One of your many gifts we neglected to know about, Alexander." Amelia muttered, her guilt rising by the tenfold.

After remaining silent, Nicole finally spoke. "Good luck, big brother. I know you'll do great things outside of the mansion." She ran up to him, feeling tears well up in her eyes as she hugged him tight. "I'll miss you moping around the mansion, and when you come back, you better be in one piece or I'll never forgive you!"

Alexander was taken aback. He couldn't believe that this was reality. Feeling tears well up in his own eyes, he knelt down and hugged her back. He could feel her shuddering as if she was stifling a sob.

"...Aw…" Yukia whispered, feeling her little sister hold her hand tightly. It was always heartwarming to watch to siblings end a feud, but even more so when one of the siblings might not make it back home…

Watching the scene made Lauren think. What if they could never make it back home? What if something terrible happened in the Village of White Roses and they weren't there to help everyone? What would happen to their mother? However, the questions that circled Lauren's mind were pushed back. She did not want to cry. Not now, at least.

"I'll miss you, Nicole." Alexander muttered as he slowly let go of his little sister. She nodded, walking back to join her mother and father.

"If you jump out that window over there," Alexander's father pointed to a nearby open window that was on the other side of the room, "you all could have a chance to flee from here. Just don't let anyone see or hear you leave."

"...That… Commander, Father." Alexander stated before breaking into a sprint for the window. "...Is she one like us? Did the mysterious woman tell you anything about her?"

His father shook his head. "I'm not sure, and she did not tell us anything about another child coming with you three. All she said was that you would be going with young Lauren and Yukia."

Alexander nodded, understanding his father's words. "Thank you. That's all I need." He answered solemnly as he slowly walked towards the open window. He could feel the breeze of the outside, oh how he missed it. He stepped back slightly, allowing Yukia and Lauren to jump down first.

"W-Wah!" Lauren whispered loudly as she landed on a large shrub. Yukia soon landed on the shrub next to her. They both looked up, waiting for Alexander to jump out next.

"Don't forget these, Miss Yukia and Lauren!" They heard Nicole shout. Suddenly, a familiar pink sundress and blue hoodie with shorts and hair tie flew out the open window. Yukia and Lauren both caught the articles of clothing, holding them tightly.

"Thank you!" Yukia and Lauren shouted back, standing on their own. They turned around and waited for Alexander...

"...I'll miss you. Stay safe, please." Alexander said his final words to his family as he too jumped down. The girls at the bottom smiled at him warmly before helping him up and leading him into the forest on the other side of the hedge wall.

Unbeknownst to them, a certain commander heard and saw the entire scenario.

* * *

**Another chapter out, and lots of editing had to be done. Mostly on the description of characters, but not much more. Since I began writing this not too long ago, it's reasonable that there would be some errors to fix. If there are any typos, don't hesitate to tell me about it!**

**So, yeah. This chapter was basically supposed to be much different when I first wrote it. You see, I have some chapters pre-written in my google docs, but I edit it there and do final editing here. It's how I work. However, being a lazy little snot, I tend to miss things or just not check over an area altogether. Now, I'm gonna go ahead and eat some stuff. I'm starved.**

**I bid you wonderful people adieu!**

_**~V-Fanfics**_


	5. Chapter 4: Chimera Punishment

__~Chapter 4: ChimeraPunishment 2.0~__

* * *

"So, what do we do now? The commander's troops are coming, so we're useless to her now…" A pigmask spoke to another in his troop.

"Sure, we're useless to her. But we can be useful in a different way, not directly to her plan… Whatever it may be." The other pigmask said to the first one. "We can keep these people hostage in this house, and, ya know, take their food and stuff."

"Brilliant-!" A pigmask began before a familiar commander walked by. "C-Commander! We're ready for your orders, ma'am!"

"Just stay here and make sure no one else escapes. I'll take care of our little escapees that just left. My troops already arrived." The commander ordered, adjusting her arm cannon. "And don't screw it up if you value your lives." She finished as she slammed the entrance door. The pigmasks just stared in absolute horror, but hesitantly went back to work.

She kept her blank stare solid as she walked outside, her flesh hand over her arm cannon. She saw two saluting child-like people before her.

"Ma'am! We apologize for our lateness, ma'am!" They shouted, their arm cannons raised to their foreheads. Their backs were straight and they refused to move even an inch.

"At ease. You are forgiven. Just don't let it happen again." The commander said. She eyed both of them, and her blank stare slowly gained life as a smirk grew. "Now, lets catch some escapees, shall we?"

"Yes, ma'am!" The two children saluted before following their commander to the other side of the house, where they knew the escapees would leave.

The commander and her two troops silently creeped up behind where they saw the group fall. They could see the older girl and the younger girl help the boy stand.

"Alexander, don't worry about them right now. Your destiny's important too, and they saw it was more important, too." The older blonde girl said to the boy, smiling warmly at him.

"Yeah! You'll make it back home in one piece, too, cuz we'll be here to protect you!" The younger, brunette girl beamed at him optimistically, not showing a hint of doubt in her own abilities.

"Tch. As if." One of the commander's troops hissed, snickering. The commander raised her hand to silence her, and continued watching.

"Come on, Alexander, Lauren." The older girl commanded. "We need to get out of here."

"Right, Yukia! We're behind you!" The younger girl, Lauren, exclaimed. However, she was instantly shushed by her superiors, Yukia and Alexander. "S-Sorry…"

"Jeez, what a moron." The other trooper commented, facepalming. The commander smirked, seeing her chance to intervene.

"Go and block them off, I'll take them from behind." The commander ordered, pointing forward. "I trust you two won't fail."

"Yes, ma'am!" The troopers saluted before running off into the forest. The commander watched as they quickly did as they were told.

"You might wanna calm down or else that commander girl could hear us leave." Alexander whispered, sweatdropping. He turned back to face the younger, brunette girl. "Now, let's-"

He never had the chance to finish his sentence as the commander's two best troops jumped before them, bearing weapons of electricity in their flesh hands.

"W-What the?-!" Yukia exclaimed, taken aback by the sudden attack. "A-Are these the troops?-!"

"Whatever they are, they're in our way!" Alexander exclaimed as he stepped in front of Yukia, arms stretched out at his sides. "What I need you to do is run ahead."

"No way! I'm fighting!" Yukia shouted, but a serious look from Alexander told her otherwise.

"Just-" Alexander began, but was instantly cut off by an strong attack from behind. "LOOK OUT!"

"Waah!" Lauren shrieked as she narrowly dodged the attack from behind. She turns around and sees the black-haired commander standing before her.

"You think you could get away, didn't you?" The commander asked, a hint of laughter in her voice. "Well, you're wrong." She raised her arm cannon, aiming straight at Yukia. "Kiss your sorry lives goodbye."

"Oh crap! RUN!-!" Yukia shouted, attempting to break into a sprint. However, the attempt failed as she was caught by one of the troops. She could feel her arm caught in the trooper's deadly grip.

"I've got her, go ahead and shoot now, Commander Krystal!" The female trooper shouts, but her face pales instantly as she notices her slip up.

"I told you never to call me by my name on a battlefield!" The commander, named Krystal, shouts angrily as she fires the shot straight at Yukia.

Yukia's eyes widened as she saw the shot head straight for her. Examining it quickly, she could tell that it would instantly kill her, especially since it was a headshot. Closing her eyes, she prepared for the worst…

"Not on my watch!" A voice echoed from the darkness of the forest. A dark figure jumped from the trees and extended a bright-looking blade with ones and zeroes on it.

"W-Wha-?"Alexander gaped in awe. "Who are you?"

"Don't worry about that, you need to run, now." The figure said, it's strange appearance making it hard for Alexander to trust it.

"Hey, it's you again!" Yukia recalled the past meeting with the strange woman. "The one who told us of our destiny or something like that!"

"Oh yeah!" Lauren exclaimed. This confused Krystal as she listened to their conversation.

"I can't seem to look up any data on you." Krystal muttered, loading her arm cannon. "But whoever you are, you're in my-"

"I'm sorry about this." The woman says as she punches Krystal in the gut. With a loud grunt, Krystal gets down on her knees and grabs her gut.

"G-Gah… That was a hard punch…" Krystal muttered, struggling to get up after the wind was knocked right out of her.

"Go now, I'll take care of this." The woman ordered the children as she made the strange, bright blade disintegrate.

"O-Okay." Lauren agreed, holding Yukia's and Alexander's hand as they all ran away. Not even the surprised troopers stopped them as they sprinted away.

"Commander!" The troopers snap back into reality, appalled at the scene they just witnessed. They run to their commander, helping her up from the ground. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just let me deal with…" Krystal pauses, seeing that the woman that had attacked her left. "W-What… Where?"

"I believe she left, commander." The female trooper muttered. "We couldn't get to her."

"I don't blame you, Emily. Or you, Oliver." Krystal said, calling both of her troopers by name. "Lets just get back inside."

"Should we inform Master Porky of your failure?" Oliver asked. Both Emily and Krystal shot him a glare, causing him to shrink back in fear.

"Do you want our leader to be punished? She may deserve it, but she's younger than everyone else. You don't know if she'll survive." Emily explained, sighing loudly. "Sometimes I wonder how you're part of the elite forces."

"Because I'm strong! Unlike you, miss fail-the-athletics-test!" Oliver argued back angrily, insulted by Emily's explanation. Emily gritted her teeth, not believing a word she had heard.

"Both of you be quiet. Master Porky will find out either way." Krystal ordered, making the others silence themselves. "But whatever you do, don't take orders from anyone else but me."

"What?" Emily was confused… But then, she understood what Krystal was thinking. "...Oh. I understand. I shall always be under your command and your command only."

Understanding his commander's wishes, he saluted to her. "Yes ma'am!" Emily also saluted her commander, making her smile back.

"I'm glad you feel such loyalty." Krystal said. After a few moments of silence, Krystal got a call on her headset she would regret getting for years to come.

"Commander 82600-1104 reporting status: Complete-" Krystal began reciting before she was cut off by a loud cough on the other side. "...M-Master Porky?"

"_You…_" She heard on the other side. The anger in his voice sent chills down her spine. "_Report to my room at once…_" She hears the other end disconnect, followed by a few beeps before she shuts off the communication system on her headset.

"...C-Commander…" Emily whispered in worry. Krystal raised her hand, silencing her trooper.

"Don't say anything. And don't do anything that those stupid damn pigmasks tell you to." Krystal ordered, getting a salute from her troops. "Good. I shall return, I assure you." She walked away from her troopers, ignoring their faces of worry.

"...But if I return unharmed is the question." Krystal muttered to herself, feeling fear rise in the pit of her stomach.

~Pigmask Army 2.0 Headquarters~

Surprise, woe, sorrow. Those emotions were written on the troops that remained at the headquarters as they watched their commander walking to her punishment. Their heads were hung low, but Krystal's head hung lowest as she accepted the fate of her failure.

"Enter. Master Porky is waiting for you." A pigmask troop said, opening the door to their master's lair. Krystal nodded as she entered. All of a sudden, horror kicked back into her.

She saw the capsule that Porky was stuck inside of for eternity. She could see the wires that connected to newly made ports on the capsule such as communication ones and ones that deliver food and drinks to the immortal being inside. She was scared, frightened, worried, all the synonymous meanings of fear, she felt them all just from walking into the room.

"_So… You show your pathetic face to me after failing, do you?_" She hears a loudspeaker yell before she hears loud coughing. "_Do you want to recieve your punishment now or later?_"

She paused. He was giving her a choice, even after she failed?

"_Ha! You thought I'd give you a choice!_" She hears. Instantly, she saw wires attach on her wings or wherever metal is found on her body. Soon, she felt the burning and painful sensation of huge electric shocks coarse down her entire body. She began to scream in utter pain and agony as she felt part of her code overload itself. She couldn't bear it much longer.

"_Having fun? I know I am! Hahahaha-_" She could hear him mock her over her own screaming, even his horrid coughing and hacking that cut him off.

She could feel the searing pain shoot through her like rivers. It felt like it would never end. She could feel other parts of her code overload as she was having an electricity take-in that was much too strong for her own good. Any longer and… And...

"**System out of power. Shutting down program ChimeraPunishment 2.0 for recharge.**" These words uttered by a computerized voice never sounded so good to Krystal as she felt the pain slowly numb away. However, she was still to weak to stand.

"_Peh. Stupid computer. I guess you've had enough, I did leave the power at it's maximum value._" Porky complained, opening the exit doors. "_Take this thing out of my sight._" He ordered his pigmasks that were standing outside of the room. The pigmasks saluted him and did as they were told.

"_I'll let the scientists 'take care of you, then._" Porky muttered as he watched the pitiful looking chimera being dragged out of his room.

Krystal 's half opened eye stared directly at the ground, not willing to look at the gaping faces of her troops. She felt pain shoot through her body again as she was thrown into the room where she stayed after her missions were complete. A sort of bedroom like thing that she shared with the rest of her troop.

"C-Commander Krystal! What happened?-!" She heard several shout. She could still feel, although as numb as it was, some troops pick her up gently and prop her limp body up on something soft. Her vision was blurred, so she couldn't tell what she was sitting on or who was talking to her.

"Everyone be quiet, she may not want to be bothered!" She could hear others shout. Slowly, Krystal raised her hand to silence them, and of course…

They did.

"Don't worry about me. I received what I deserved, now go about your business or else you'll go through the hell I went through." Krystal muttered, struggling to speak with every word. She could still feel the pain, even in the rise and fall of her breathing.

"...Yes, Ma'am." They all saluted half-heartedly, looking at the mess their leader's become. Krystal sighed and closed her eye, making sure that her right eye was still covered by the eyepatch she had before.

"Does it need to be replaced?" She heard a small voice utter from the back. Krystal smiled, nodding. She knew that voice and the strange accent very well, even if it was their newest addition to the troop.

The 145th member of the troop, as well as the newest, Audrey.

"I can get it for you." She offered, holding the black eyepatch that covered the half of Krystal's face that was covered by her dark, black hair. Krystal nodded, hearing the small and fast footsteps of the newest member. Krystal removed the eyepatch and grabbed the new one, carefully placing it over her face.

"Thank you." Krystal said. Audrey moved back a few steps, saluting her superior. Krystal didn't have any time to relax, however, as a pigmask colonel walked into the room, his white cape fluttering magnificently.

"ATTENTION! CHIMERA TROOP!" He bellowed, causing the entire troop, with the exception of the commander, to salute him. "Bring your commander here!"

"..." Hesitantly, the troop did as they were told, with the command of their leader. Krystal struggled to stand, but she limped up to the general.

"What do you want?" She asked aggressively, almost angry. The pigmask general shrunk back slightly at her sudden anger.

"W-We need you to come with us, ma'am." The pigmask general answered, extremely intimidated by Krystal's glare. She huffed, limping ahead of them. The pigmasks shut the doors to the room and led Krystal out of the headquarters.

"We're putting you in a laboratory along with other chimeras that are not living up to standards." A pigmask said. Krystal paused, understanding what they had said. She…

...Was going to be put in a coma until she was needed…

"...Don't even dare." She threatened, clenching her fists tightly. However, before she could punch the living daylights out of them, something hard whacked her in the back of the head. She felt the entire world go black, and her last conscious thought emerged from the back of her mind.

'_**I shall have my sweet revenge...**_'

* * *

**Shorter chapter, yes I know. But don't DARE complain. I wrote TWO CHAPTERS in one day. Starting to feel like Elements and Prophecies, huh? HUH? Well whatever. **

**Anyway, I believe this will be the last one for a bit. I need to finish editing the next one, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter, as short as it was. The next one will actually feature a canon character that we all know and love… Somewhere at the end. I hope you're looking forward to it!**

**I bid you amazing readers, writers, and people who are just so bored that they have nothing better to do in their lives other than read this crap adieu. **

_**~V-Fanfics**_


	6. Chapter 5: Weeks Have Passed…

__~Chapter 5: Weeks Have Passed…~__

* * *

"Yukia, I'm telling you, the next village to check is this way!" Lauren argued loudly. This has gone nonstop for the few weeks they've been traveling together and her sister didn't even have the decency to listen!

"Lauren, I'm telling _you_ we can't check the nearest village with the name 'Retreat Village'! Can't you listen to me for one second?-!" Yukia argued back angrily, getting fed up with her stubborn sister. Why couldn't she stop thinking like she was always right?

"Both of you be quiet, already. We could attract some bad animals." Alexander warned, fed up with both girls arguing. "Unless you want one of us to go to the dogs. _Literally._"

"_Hmph!_" Lauren huffed loudly, crossing her arms and looking away from both of her teammates. "I don't _care!_ I could defeat them easily with my ice powers!"

"_Idiot_. You were only lucky to defeat a pigmask. Do you know how much PP you use up with that attack?-!" Yukia exclaimed, facepalming at her younger sister's idiocy .

"Both of you SHUT UP!" Alexander yelled, fed up with the team already. "I came with you because I thought you girls had an idea about what you were doing, but apparently you don't! So now we're lost in a damn forest with little food and drink!"

"Because a little _brat _ate all the food!" Yukia blamed her younger sister, watching as she looked away from her older one.

"Maybe you should eat more, Yukia. You look like a stick!" Lauren insulted, getting angry at her older sister.

"THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Alexander shouted, extending both hands before him and attacking. "PSI BLAZE ALPHA!"

"G-Gah!" Both girls screamed as they felt their clothes being burned to a crisp. Alexander blinked, surprised that his attack actually worked.

"PK ICY WIND ALPHA!" Lauren shouted, pointing two fingers at Alexander. He started shouting loudly as he felt the sharp cold on his body.

"...That worked." Yukia observed as she noticed the burning sensation leave. Lauren beamed as she watched Alexander shiver.

"D-D-Damn it, L-L-Lauren." He muttered, sputtering out his words as he shivered intensely.

"That was a bit much, Lauren." Yukia commented, sighing and shaking her head. She noticed how dark the area was after the last ember had burnt out. She looked up and saw the sun setting in the sky.

"We've been walking for an entire two or three weeks now…" Yukia muttered. Lauren and Alexander looked in the same direction, feeling… Tranquil.

"Yeah. Lets set up camp here, shall we?" Alexander asked, standing up and rubbing his arms. "I mean, if we travel any longer we could get way too tired and pass out somewhere."

"I'll get out the remaining nut bread." Yukia said as she searched in her bag. Lauren nodded as she ran off to collect sticks.

"I'll find a way to make some tents and stuff." Alexander offered. Yukia shook her head in response, pulling out three sleeping bags from her bag.

"My mother prepared, knowing that there would be four of us." Yukia explained, opening up two sleeping bags. "And don't tell Lauren, but I have more nut bread than this. But it's for when we meet the next hero, whoever or wherever she is."

"Oh. I see." Alexander said as he caught a sleeping bag that was flung at him. He began opening it on the opposite side of the girls. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"What's up?" Yukia asked, giving him his full attention. Alexander sat upright on his sleeping bag, thinking about his question.

"Well… About that commander girl that we saw before… Do you think she could be the last hero you were told about?" Alexander asked. Yukia bursted into laughter, not believing what she just heard.

"W-Wait, you're asking _me_ if that commander… _Krystal_… Was the last hero?-! Hell no!" Yukia exclaimed, still laughing uncontrollably. "Are you crazy?"

"Well, I was just asking, because when she fired that shot at you… I could see it wasn't like a bullet or a beam…" Alexander explained his reasoning. "It looked more like something tangible, but _not_."

"What the hell are you smoking, man?-!" Yukia asked, wiping a fake tear from her eye. "Tangible but not? Are you okay, dude?"

"...I was just wondering, Yukia. Think about it for a second." He said as he watched Lauren emerge from the forest.

"Came back with plenty of sticks." Lauren said as she dumped _immensely large_ logs in front of her. "Can we use these?"

"Did you cut down some trees or something?" Yukia asked, dumbfounded by the size of the logs.

"Yeah. One." Lauren said. Yukia blinked, wondering how she did it.

"How..?" Alexander began, but was cut off when he saw her hand. It looked like an icy blade.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DO THAT?-!" Yukia shouted, extremely surprised by her sister's sudden ability.

"I always knew, at least since I did it once by accident." Lauren muttered, changing her hand back. "It's weird, but it's when I fail to use Icy Wind right."

"...Oh...Kay..." Yukia said as she stood up. "Alright, Alexander, can you start the fire?"

"Absolutely." Alexander said. He extended one hand before him and muttered "Pk Blaze Alpha" and watched as he performed the ability. The logs that were set before him suddenly lit in cheerful brightness as the flames danced lightheartedly in the space before the three of them.

"Here's some nut bread, everyone." Yukia said as she passed around the bread. Lauren began eating hers while Alexander checked it before taking a bite. Yukia smiled and took a good bite of the bread, tasting the flavors her mother would sneak in every day.

"Ooh, it's sweet this time!" Lauren cheered gleefully as she stuffed herself with the nutty goodness.

"Yep, it's really good this time!" Yukia mused as she devoured the food. She could barely believe how good the stuff was!

"It's actually really good, where did you get this nut bread?" Alexander asked, refraining from stuffing his own face with the sweet tasting baked good.

"Well, our mother made it for our trip around the Nowhere Islands. There should be some more left..." Lauren explained, crawling over to Yukia's bag.

"Don't even think about it, Lauren." Yukia warned, moving her bag away from the other child. Lauren glared slightly at her older sister, angered that her sister would do such a horrible thing.

"I think it's best to save up our stock on items just in case we get attacked or hungry." Alexander recommended, patting Lauren's head. She crossed her arms and pouted, glaring daggers at the fire before her.

"Thanks for that, Alexander." Yukia thanked him before taking her last bite of the nut bread she had. She wiped her hands of the crumbs that remained, licking her fingers. This made Alexander cringe slightly. "...What?"

"...Don't do that. Please." Alexander spoke, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Yukia blinked, then shrugged as she wiped her hands on her hoodie. Alexander sighed, thinking about his decision to tag along with the two girls.

"I think we should just hit the hay for the night. I mean, it is getting late." Yukia pointed at the sky, seemingly tracing a pattern in the stars she saw above. "Good night, you guys." She crawled into her sleeping bag and instantly dozed off, not another sound to be heard from her.

"Good night, Yukia and Alexander." Lauren yawned loudly as she too dozed off in her sleeping bag. She and her sister looked so peaceful.

However, Alexander was restless the entire night...

_~During the Night~_

He continued to lay there, eyes half open. Staring to the sky, he continued to worry about his parents. Would he make it back alive and in one piece? Would his parents be okay? He couldn't stand it anymore.

Slowly rising from his sleeping bag, he sat by the dim fire. He extended his hand and muttered softly, "PSI Blaze Alpha." He made the fire before him burn brilliantly again. The flames were dancing beautifully around the space before him.

"...Alexander?" He heard someone whisper. He tensed, turning to the direction from which the voice came from. Yukia sat upright, wiping her tired eyes. "...How come you're awake? It's still really early..."

"...I couldn't sleep. Sorry if I woke you." Alexander apologized, guilt welling up within him. However, a slight smile from Yukia made that guilt wash away like a waterfall.

"You didn't. I kinda woke up myself." Yukia explained, laughing softly. "My sister's the deepest sleeper, so don't worry about waking her until morning comes around."

"I see." Alexander said as he turned to look at Lauren. Her hair was still tied in a bow, but the rest of it was pretty much everywhere, even on the grass around her sleeping bag. Still, the smile on her face showed that she was dreaming happily and peacefully.

"So, what's wrong? How come you couldn't sleep?" Yukia asked, sitting next to the brunette boy. He sighed, staring straight at the fire.

"I'm just... Worried. That's all." Alexander admitted, resting his tired head on his arm which rested on his knee. Yukia sadly turned to face the fire as well.

"I feel you." Yukia said. This caused Alexander to turn his head to her, giving her his full attention. "My mom's in a village that's really poor, unlike your village. She barely made any money with us there, and now that we're on this journey to save the world, we can't help her with anything.

"...I see..." Alexander muttered softly, listening closely.

"Also, the entire village itself could crumble without a source of protection, which was me. I was renowned as the village's best warrior, even if I was a girl." Yukia continued, playing around with her psychic powers. Small specks of ice and snow spun around the fire, but none of them melted. "If those damn pigmasks touch that village's ground, I swear on my life they will pay for it."

"I feel the same." Alexander spoke, sighing. "...But not for that commander..."

"Yeah. I wanna kick her sorry ass to the ground like that woman did!" Yukia laughed, causing the small specks of ice to swirl faster and faster around the fire. "I wanna see her suffer for trying to kill me and hurt my little sister."

"...That's not what I mean..." Alexander muttered. Yukia stopped the ice specks from spinning madly. This surprised him slightly, making him sit upright.

"What the hell do you mean, then?" Yukia asked, appalled by Alexander's thoughts towards the commander. "Do you forgive the things she did?"

"Think about it this way, Yukia, before you get angry at me." Alexander explained, placing a hand on her shoulder. This caused her to flinch, but she calmed down and listened closely. "Remember what I said: Her troop was transformed into robot chimeras. What if she had no control over what she was doing? Like a puppet?"

"..." Yukia remained silent. She let his words sink in for a moment before letting the ice specks drop into the fire and sizzle away. She nodded, understanding. "...You could be right."

"See what I mean now?" Alexander asked, proving his point. She nodded turning to face the fire.

"Yeah." Yukia muttered. She hated being wrong, but she knew she wouldn't win this battle. He was right about one thing: She was probably under the control of some sort of tyrant. But... Who was this "Porky Minch"?

"I'm going to get some rest." Alexander said. "We need to move some more in the daytime, so I can't just stay up all night and be tired the next day." He crawled into his sleeping bag, sighing softly and closing his eyes.

"Oh. Okay, good night, Alexander." Yukia said, standing from her spot on the log. She watched as Alexander dozed off. She had never seen him look so... Innocent.

Oh god, she needed sleep. _Now._

She sighed as she crawled into her sleeping bag, pulling the bag over her face as she dozed off, escaping to the world of sleep...

_~In a Strange Place, a Few Weeks in the Past~_

"Are the preparations complete, Dr. Andonuts?" A female scientist with brown hair tied in a ponytail asked. Goggles covered her eyes and most of her face, and a mask covered her mouth.

"Yes. I believe she is ready. Bring her in." A man, Dr. Andonuts, muttered as he punched lines of binary code into a large computer. He turned around at the sounds of struggling behind him.

"Let me go this instant you pig-faced idiots!" Krystal shouted, thrashing angrily. The pigmask ensigns that held her down whimpered in fear for their lives. However, one of the scientists restrained her quickly using her pressure points.

"I'm afraid to say that the Chimera Troop will not be needing a leader for the next few years. I think they can do without you, Commander Krystal." A scientist said as they tried to restrain the girl. However, she wouldn't quit her squirming or thrashing.

"Someone get her inside the tank immediately before she finds a way out!" A male scientist yells, opening up a large, glass tank. The two scientists throw her in, allowing the glass tank to shut itself tightly. With a loud thud, she lands in its center and watches in anger as the glass slides up and seals the tank with a hiss.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Krystal shouted loudly as she banged her hands on the glass. She aimed a closed, metal fist at the glass, but remembered one thing...

She didn't have her cannon on her.

"D-Damn it..." She cussed, pressing her flesh hand and her metal hand on the glass. She glared at the scientists, her eye flashing brightly. "I swear on my life I will find you and I will kill you all!"

"Start the process." Dr. Andonuts ordered. One of the scientists ran for the computer, punching in lines and lines of code and watching wires connect to Krystal's back and metal arm.

"W-What the..." Krystal felt herself fading away slowly, seeing the world around her go black. She let her arms fall to her sides, but her fall was caught by the strange, green liquid that filled up the tank.

"Put the mask on her so she can still breathe." Dr. Andonuts ordered, looking straight at the scientist at the computer. Frantically, he controlled the mask to attach to the young girl's face, covering her nose and mouth.

"...Is it finished, sir?" A female scientist asked, eyes wider than dinner plates. Dr. Andonuts nodded, causing an uproar of cheering and clapping.

"YES!" A scientist shouted. "Now we don't have to kill off another rebellious leader! She can just be called when needed, and her entire troop could be what we use to keep her in line!" Dr. Andonuts frowned at this. He didn't want it to come to this.

"...Krystal." He muttered softly. He stared right at her, watching her hair flow freely around the tank "...The one that came before you, the first leader of the chimera troop, I believe she knew this would happen to one of her own."

"Dr. Andonuts, we will report our success to Master Porky!" A scientist exclaimed, awaiting the doctor's approval. He nodded, not daring to look at the others behind him. He waited for the creaky, metal door behind him to shut and for silence to fall, and once it did, he continued.

"...A strange woman told me to implant the contents of this USB into the coding system of this computer. She looked... A lot like you, actually." Dr. Andonuts continued, holding a small USB. "I'm not sure it will work on you, but if it does, I want you to know I am not on their side. I wanted you to live and prosper with your troop, not suffer over something so... _trivial_."

He silently placed the USB into the port, downloading the files and data from it. He watched patiently as some parts of the code were deleted and replaced with its contents. He smiled slightly and walked out of what looked like an abandoned laboratory.

As he left the building, he swore he had caught a glimpse of the strange woman he spoke of…

* * *

**WOOP! DatLittleStar, you were right on one of them! It was Dr. Andonuts! HOWEVER, before any of you start saying "If this is 200 years in the future, why is Dr. Andonuts here?-!", understand that I had this story planned out and I know how to answer. *Ahem*, it is his ****_descendant_, it is NOT the same Dr. Andonuts from Mother 2 and 3. Just wanted to clarify.**

**Anyway, now the commander Krystal has no power over the pigmasks! But was this punishment truly to punish her, or was it to _keep_ her from something else? And what will become of the trio of destined heroes? Find out in the next chapter!**

**I bid you wonderful readers/writers/people who are bored, adieu!**

**_~V-Fanfics_  
**


	7. Chapter 6: Krystal

__~Chapter 6: Krystal...~__

* * *

"_It... Hurts..._"

Alexander paused, looking around. He had no idea where he was. All he could sense was fear. Fear coursing through his veins as he stared at the monstrosity before him. What was this thing?

"_...I feel H...A...P...P...Y..._"

He couldn't take it any longer, he couldn't grasp the form of it's being. This red swirl of pure insanity and evil struck him as horrifying, gruesome, and overall scarring. He swore that he had never seen such a thing in his life.

"_...ALEXANDER, ALEXANDER, ALEXANDER, ALEXANDER, ALEXANDER, ALEXANDER, ALEXANDER, ALEXANDER, ALEXANDER..._"

* * *

~In Reality~

* * *

"Alexander! Wake up, dude!" Yukia shouted as she shook the boy. He had been whimpering since daybreak, and she had never seen someone so scared in her life.

"Come on, wake up!" Lauren yelled as she stood before him, raising her arms. "PK ICY WIND ALPHA!" A smaller gust of cold wind hurled itself at the whimpering boy before her, causing him to scream out as he woke up.

"GAAAAAH!-!" Alexander screamed, sitting upright. As he sharply sat up, he accidentally hit Yukia's forehead. Nevertheless, he ignored it.

"H-Hey!" Yukia exclaimed, putting her hands on his shoulders, shaking him to his senses. "What's the matter with you?-! You've been whimpering since this morning!"

"...I...I've been what?" Alexander asked, not believing what he was told. He took a look around. Sure enough, it was some time of the day, and the sun shone directly down upon them.

It was... Noon?

"H-How long was I asleep?" Alexander asked, gesturing to the sun above him. Yukia rubbed her aching forehead, allowing Lauren to speak for her.

"Yukia wanted you to get some extra sleep since you didn't sleep that much last night. We collected some berries and such for the rest of the trip and found a way to get out of here." Lauren explained, stifling a laugh due to Yukia's injury. She also gestured to a large basket of berries. "But you ended up whimpering, and that woke her up. We thought it was just you being stupid about sleeping outside. But then you spoke about something hurting you..." Lauren's facial expression changed from laughter to slight worry for her comrade.

"...Yeah." Alexander said, wiping the sweat that was beading on his forehead. Being out in the sun didn't help either. He crawled out of the sleeping bag, only to find...

He was in boxers.

"...What the..." Alexander muttered. Instantly, he could hear Lauren guffawing at the scenario. Yukia's face was a bright red, and she covered her nose to prevent the worst of reactions.

"Yukia thought you were sweating because you were hot under the sun, so she-" Lauren was interrupted by a hand slapping over her mouth. Yukia's bright red face was shielded from view, but she still spoke over her sister's muffled voice.

"I didn't do anything. You were... sleepwalking!" Yukia said, saving herself from the most embarrassing situation.

"...Sleepwalking?" Alexander repeated, confused. Yukia nodded, continuing to hide her beet red face. He blinked, but decided to pretend like none of that ever happened. He searched around for his clothes, which were nicely folded on a log near where the fire was, and put them on. He made sure the tux was buttoned nicely and he slipped on his silk gloves, liking the feeling of security that they gave him.

"Alright, ready to go?" Yukia asked, trying her absolute hardest to remain calm. Alexander nodded, picking up a bag and hauling it over his shoulder.

"Ready. You, Lauren?" Alexander asked as he looked to Lauren. With a smile and a huge basket of berries in hand, she nodded.

"Ready~!" Lauren chirped excitedly, making sure she didn't drop a single berry. Yukia smiled at both of them as she started walking forward. Alexander and Lauren followed, keeping a good eye on the trail they walked on...

* * *

~Sometime Later~

* * *

"And there's also that other time when Yukia froze her hand when trying to learn Icy Blade!" Lauren explained, barely containing her laughter. Her laughter only rose in intensity as her older sister glared harshly at her.

"Like you don't make mistakes either, little miss perfect." Yukia muttered to herself, gritting her teeth. Alexander remained smiling, not wanting to be dragged into the conversation.

"...Say. About earlier, when Alexander had that nightmare..." Lauren said, turning her attention to Alexander. "...What was it about?"

Alexander's smile was wiped clean off of his face. Of all the topics, she had to choose the one that he hated to think about now. He inhaled deeply, trying to regain his composure. "...I don't think you really want to know about-"

"I'm sure I wanna know. If something scared you that badly, I need to know so I can protect everyone from it." Yukia stated, not daring to look back. Her tone went from annoyed to serious in just a few seconds. Alexander could tell a pattern between the two sisters...

"...Do you really want to know?" Alexander asked, regretting his decision. Yukia turned to look back at him, still walking in the same direction. Her blue eyes gave her a sense of seriousness, as if she wouldn't take no for an answer. He sighed and began explaining in complete detail.

Each detail gave a more explicit explanation of what the monstrosity in front of him was, and with each detail, the girls' faces turned paler and paler. He began to explain what it was saying, and what it was doing. The only thing he couldn't explain was the one thing he couldn't grasp about whatever it was...

...It's true form.

"I don't know what that thing was, but I knew that it was the formation of insanity and evil itself..." Alexander explained, his tone extremely serious. Yukia bit her lip hard, regretting her decision to force him to tell her what he saw.

"...That sounds so scary..." Lauren muttered, shivering from head to toe. "I never wanna see that-" She bumped into something soft.

"...Hold on, guys." Yukia warned, extending a hand outward to stop the ones behind. She closed her eyes, focusing her mind on her exceptionally great hearing. She could hear... Footsteps.

Huge footsteps heading their way.

"There's something there!" Yukia exclaimed, dropping whatever bag she had to the ground. Lauren and Alexander did the same, allowing them to group around the bags and begin the battle.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

It continued to approach the trio. Sweat was beading their foreheads as anticipation crept up on them. Yukia kept her eyes peeled as she protected her younger sister, and Alexander made sure that neither girl would get hurt.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump._

"There it is!" Lauren exclaimed, pointing in her forward direction. Yukia and Alexander stood beside her, making sure she wouldn't get seriously damaged from whatever was facing them.

From the shadows of the woods approached a large, pink monster. It's yellow eyes glistened with bloodlust, it's teeth wet with it's own saliva, if you could call that... stuff by such a name. A small, yellow canary sat on top of the pink beast, guarding what looked like an off switch on it's back.

...What was this thing?

"What IS that?-!" Alexander exclaimed in horror, pointing at it's unusually large mouth. "It's huge!"

"It doesn't look like it's gonna be easy to beat..." Yukia muttered. "And we don't have that many recovery items..."

"...I think we should just run, don't you think?-!" Lauren asked, fear rising in the pit of her stomach. Yukia and Alexander nodded, but they stayed still for a few moments.

"...Slowly..." Yukia whispered softly, picking up a bag slowly. Lauren clutched the berry basket tightly, ready to make a run for it. Alexander slowly hauled the bag over his shoulder.

"...Now..." Yukia muttered. As if on cue, Lauren and Alexander sprinted away, leaving Yukia alone face to face with the monster.

"...Is when we run, okay?" Yukia whispered, turning to look at the two that were supposed to be by her side. "...Oh crap."

The monster licked it's teeth as it pounced on Yukia. Screaming bloody murder, Yukia sprinted off, tripping on a few stones but continuing her sprint.

She eventually caught up with Alexander and Lauren, who were running quite fast. "Keep running!-!" Yukia yelled as she passed them slightly.

Alexander looked back, seeing the blood-crazed thing chase after them with an insane look on it's face. The insanity reminded him...

No, he couldn't think about that now. This was reality!

"Just keep going! We need to find some place to hide!" Alexander yelled, squinting to see what was ahead. Luckily enough... There was something ahead of them.

"Hey! Look! A huge metal building!" Lauren pointed, not slowing down her speed in the slightest. "We should stay in there!"

"Great idea! Now, let's bust through the door!" Yukia exclaimed, Alexander and Lauren agreeing to her well thought out plan. Inhaling sharply, they braced themselves for the impact against the metal door.

**_CRASH!-!_**

"WOAH!" The trio shouted as they busted down the door. They groaned slightly as they felt pain shoot through their arms.

"Umm, aren't we forgetting something?-!" Alexander shouted. Yukia blinked and looked out the door. Oh yeah...

The pink monster was getting closer to them.

"OH CRAP!" Lauren shrieked as she extended her hands in front of her. "P-PK ICY WIND ALPHA!"

"PK Icy Blade Beta!" Yukia shouted, placing her hands on the ground. The combined force of both icy attacks created a barrier strong enough to withstand anything that crashed into the ice. Alexander braced himself as he saw the monster get closer, and closer, and...

_THUD!_

It slammed it's face into the ice, but it didn't break.

"It... It worked!" Alexander gasped in awe. Yukia panted, standing up weakly. She still nodded, happy that her idea worked.

"Nya nya! You can't get in here anymore, Mr. Pink Monster!" Lauren teased, sticking her tongue out at the monster. Soon, after countless tries and fails, the monster slowly walked off and back into the forest.

"...Okay, now let's get out of here." Alexander said, walking up to the ice barrier. However, cruel realization struck him as he noticed the strength of the ice. "...Oh come on..."

"H-hey, look on the bright side! We can stay indoors for the night!" Yukia said as she chuckled nervously. However, as she took in the surroundings of the inside...

It was extremely dark with only one, single light bulb on. Small whirrs and clicks could be heard from one side of the long room, but no one dared to go back there. Other than the small bulb, it was very hard to see inside the building...

"...PK Blaze Alpha." Alexander muttered after taking off one of his silk gloves and lighting a small fire on his fingertip. As small as it was, it was incredibly useful in finding their way around the room. However...

All they could see ahead of them were a bunch of empty tanks with computers next to them.

"...What the hell is this damn place?" Yukia asked, gaping in horror. "A lab?"

"Looks like..." Alexander began, wiping some dust off of a tank, "...A _Chimera_ lab."

"How do you know what that looks like?-!" Lauren asked, surprised at his sudden knowledge. Alexander continued to look around the area, searching for anything they could use.

"Chimera labs have tanks to keep them in when they are 'reborn', or awakened after being recreated into the terrible things they are. I read about it in a science book." Alexander answered, poking around. He turned to where the hallway-like room continued, seeing the almost infinite darkness. But...

He could see... Some sort of green light...

"...What is that..?" Alexander mused, slowly walking towards the dim, green light. Yukia and Lauren turned their attention to the hallway, searching for whatever Alexander found.

"What is... What?" Yukia asked, confused. Alexander began to walk slowly towards the dim light, making sure he wasn't heard by whatever could be on the other side. Yukia and Lauren both stayed behind him, preparing themselves in case they needed to attack anything.

"...Don't either of you see a dim light on the other side of the room?" Alexander whispered softly, his voice barely audible. Yukia squinted, but she was still unable to see what Alexander was speaking about. Lauren, however, caught a faint glimpse of the dim light.

"I see it... But, what is it?" Lauren asked, somewhat frightened. Alexander shrugged, not knowing the answer himself. He only continued to walk further and further into the laboratory, a flame still flickering and dancing on his fingertip.

"..." Yukia remained silent, as did Lauren. Both of them imagined many young children, ones that were their age or even younger, being shoved into these tanks and having their limbs removed forcefully. They could even imagine the screaming and crying of the children as they cried out for their parents, family, or whatever they had left. Certainly, some must have lost their lives in the ordeal.

"Girls, I think we're close to..." Alexander whispered as he approached the dim light. However, as he raised his lit fingertip, horror struck him like a punch to the gut. He paled as he noticed what he was staring at.

It was the young commander, Krystal, inside of a _tank_.

"W-What the _hell?-!_" Yukia shouted, her voice rising in volume. She shoved Alexander out of the way slightly, taking in what she was seeing before her.

The young commander's now frail and fragile body was limply floating, surrounded by the strange liquid around her. Her arms and legs were grossly thin, but they still appeared to be usable. She was very pale, paler than when they had first encountered her. The only thing she wore was some sort of hospital gown that was a size too big. As they examined what was in front of them, the one question that went through their minds were, "How?"

"W-What happened?" Lauren asked, in complete shock. Yukia couldn't even speak, her mind was still processing what she was seeing.

"...How could they..." Alexander muttered, feeling his anger rise and his stomach lurch. Is this how they treat one of their best fighters? A commander, no less!

"Alexander, do you know how to get her out of this thing?" Yukia asked. This surprised Lauren, even if she knew that Krystal would die if she was left in that thing any longer.

"What are you saying? You're going to help someone that almost killed you?" Lauren asked, punching her sister in the arm slightly. However, Yukia ignored her sister's little punch and looked around the area for any clues as to how she could release Krystal from whatever the hell she was in.

"Yukia, maybe you should check the computer next to it. There's something on the screen." Alexander recommended, laughing slightly. Yukia blinked, realizing what she should have done. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously as she walked over to the computer. Sure enough, there was text on the screen.

"_To awaken, press the red button on the far left to manually shutdown the system._"

"Manually shutdown the system? Wha..." Yukia asked, completely confused by the words that were displayed before her. Sighing, Alexander stepped in front of her.

"Let me do this." Alexander muttered as he did as the text told him to. He softly pressed a small, red button on the far left of the keyboard. Doing this led him to another line of text, reading, "_Continue by pressing the blue, green, and yellow buttons on the top right of the keyboard. This will ensure Krystal's vitality. Any order will do._"

Completely focused, Alexander continued to press each button in a random order. He gently pressed them, leading him to another line of text. This continued until a sentence with two single words was left.

"_Good Luck._"

What was this? Alexander blinked and re-read what was on the screen. Did someone plant this message into the computer on purpose? Was he supposed to know how to manually shutdown the system, as the computer put it? His questions instantly vanished as he saw the computer screen turn black

"...Did you do it right?" Yukia asked, slightly worried. She turned her head to the tank where Krystal was being held inside. Sure enough, she could see the liquid drain from the container, letting Krystal slowly fall to the ground. The wires disconnected themselves, and the glass slid down. Krystal limply fell to the floor outside of the tank, a soft thump emitted from the contact.

"...I... I'm scared..." Lauren whispered, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She had never seen anything so terrible in her life. She could clearly see the horrifyingly skinny limbs she had, as if she hadn't eaten anything in the past three weeks.

"C-Check if she has a pulse!" Alexander shouted, running to kneel over the young girl. Yukia quickly knelt over Krystal's limp form, putting two fingers on her neck, feeling for her pulse.

Which was still there, faintly.

"She's alive, but holding on by a thread." Yukia said, helping Alexander turn her over so her "belly" was up. When they succeeded in flipping her over, they could see her face. From a distance, they couldn't tell. Now that they were up close, however, they could clearly see scars over her eye. Her eye that wasn't covered by her hair.

"This is disgusting. Makes me want to puke." Alexander commented, looking away from the scene. He got up on his feet and walked a meter or two away, just so he wouldn't be around Krystal in the form she was in now.

"I know, but we have to save her one way or another..." Yukia muttered. Instantly, she had an idea. "Lauren, bring our stuff here."

"W-Why?" Lauren asked. However, once she saw Yukia's face turn to her with a look of anger, she bolted to get the bags.

"Why the berries? What are they useful for?" Alexander asked, curious. Yukia opened her mouth to answer, but was silenced by the sound of Lauren falling over with the basket in hand.

"Whoa!-!" Lauren exclaimed as she slipped on the metal floor, landing on her face with a loud thump. The berry basket began to fly out of her hands and through the air. Yukia's eyes widened at the scene before her, watching as Alexander jumped to catch the flying basket.

"Nice show you put on there. Now give me the damn berries before the basket sprouts wings and goes elsewhere!" Yukia exclaimed, getting slightly frustrated. Was getting a single basket of berries that hard? She snatches the bag from Alexander's grasp, causing him to flinch slightly.

"So what are you gonna do with them, sis?" Lauren asked, rubbing her injured nose softly and sitting upright.

"I'm gonna see if I can give her some. She looks like she hasn't eaten in forever." Yukia answered, lifting Krystal's head and placing it on her lap. However, as she lifted it she noticed its heaviness. "W-What the..?"

"What?-!" Alexander and Lauren exclaimed, nearing Yukia's face. This startled her, causing her to squeal and jump in surprise. As the reaction took place, Krystal's head hit the floor with a thump.

"...ow..." Krystal muttered softly. This caught the attention of the other three. They quickly and quietly propped her up to sit, rather than lay on the cold ground underneath.

"...Is she awake..?" Lauren asked in a soft whisper. Alexander shrugged, but Yukia gave no reaction. They watched closely, looking for any signs that she was awake. And sure enough...

Her eye opened a sliver, revealing its light blue color.

"...Who..?" Krystal muttered, only seeing a blurry vision of a blonde person and two brunettes in front of her. She shook her head sharply, trying to regain her sense of vision. Opening her eye a bit more, she could identify who was standing in front of her.

It was the trio she fought back at Golden Gate.

She could recognize the faces that burned into her memory. The older girl that she had almost killed, remembering her wide eyes and terrified glance. She turned frantically to the other brunettes, the younger girl and the eldest male of the Jefferson family. Quickly and frantically, Krystal backed up and hit a column behind her.

"Woah woah! H-Hold on!" Yukia exclaimed, sitting upright in surprise. Even when the commander looked weak, she could still move like this? The others were dumbfounded as well.

"W-Why are you here?" Krystal asked, trying to sound threatening, but failing miserably. However, before they could answer her question, she was hit by a wave of exhaustion. This caused her to slump back on the column and her arms to fall on the ground with a thud. Her metal arm being particularly louder than her flesh one.

"We just... Hid here. From a monster outside." Yukia answered, slowly coming nearer to the young girl. However, as she did, she noticed that Krystal's eyes followed her closely, as if she didn't want anyone to approach her.

"It was huge and looked like it would kill us!" Lauren explained further, extending her arms to describe the size of the thing they had faced earlier. "Since we had no where else that was near enough, we decided that ducking in here would be good enough. At least for a night."

"...How can I trust you?" Krystal asked, shivering slightly. With the exhaustion came a wave of coldness. Of course, all that she wore was a hospital gown that was a tad big. She struggled to pull her legs close to her chest to keep herself as warm as possible.

"...I... I don't know." Yukia muttered. Suddenly, she shook her head and exclaimed, "How do we know we can trust you not to kill us in our sleep or something?-!"

Yukia's yelling startled Krystal to a point where she actually jumped. Krystal only bowed her head to this, feeling extreme guilt. Yukia could only sigh, feeling slightly bad that she had yelled at the young girl so harshly.

"Sorry." Yukia muttered. However, Krystal shook her head.

"No. You are right. But take a good look at me, I'm in no condition to fight, at least not for the entirety of today at best." Krystal said, raising her head slightly. She tried to move her metal arm, but even that was too heavy.

"...Oh. That's right..." Yukia murmured, watching Krystal struggle to move a limb that was artificially given, but was normally movable. She sighed as she inched closer to the young girl. This still continued to startle her.

"N-No! Don't come near me!" Krystal shouted, using her last bit of strength to try and stand. She used the column behind her to assist her, but it only resulted in her falling back down. She gritted her teeth, trying her hardest not to scream at the pain it dealt.

"Just shut up and let me help you, damn it!" Yukia exclaimed, grabbing Krystal's metal arm. She could feel the sheer coldness of the metal, sending chills down her spine as she touched it. Krystal sharply turned her head away, not daring to look at Yukia.

"...What is she so afraid of..?" Lauren asked in a hushed whisper to Alexander. He shrugged, but he continued to watch in silence.

"W-What are you going to do?-!" Krystal asked, turning her face to Yukia. Yukia stared right into the young girl's light blue eyes, examining the fear and worry plastered all over the girl's face.

"Just don't worry. It's nothing bad, I assure you." Yukia said, tugging Krystal's metal hand softly. Krystal took in a deep breath and inched every so closely to Yukia. However, she didn't dare look her in the eye again.

"Here, eat these. They should help you recover a bit." Krystal raised her head to the one who spoke. Alexander held out a few slices of bread and berries. Hesitantly, Krystal picked up a few of the berries and a slice of bread to try them.

She examined the bread closely, looking for anything suspicious. "What are these little things inside the bread?" Krystal asked, pointing at the small pieces of nut inside of the bread.

"Nuts. Are you allergic or something?" Lauren asked, taking a slice of nut bread from Alexander's hands and devouring it in approximately three whole bites.

"No. I don't have any allergies. I was altered to be so." Krystal explained as she tried a bit of the nut bread. As she chewed it, her face slowly began to change from a normal expression to one of disgust. She eyed the bread again, not enjoying the taste of the nut bread.

"You don't like my mom's nut bread?-!" Lauren gasped, her green eyes wide in surprise and amazement. Krystal shook her head slightly.

"I will eat it, but it isn't the most pleasant thing to me." Krystal muttered as she forced herself to have another bite.

"Jeez. Wait 'till my mom hears about this." Yukia muttered shaking her head and laughing. "You'll break her heart!"

"Oh no!" Lauren gasped. She soon turned her face to Krystal, an intense look on her own face. "You better not break my mom's heart! Would you do that to your mom, too?"

Instantly, Krystal paused, almost forcing another bite of the nut bread into her mouth. Slowly, she lowered her hand that carried the nut bread to her lap. She sighed softly and explained, her voice monotone, "I don't have a mom or a dad, so don't compare my '_life_' to yours."

Silence fell in the room. Krystal... Had no parents? Or... Were they...?

"...Do you know what happened to them, if something did happen?" Yukia asked, her expression changing to sadness. How could she live without knowing she had a mother to run to? Or a father to protect her? Did she even have siblings, or did they die as well?

Krystal looked upwards, her face pointed to the ceiling. "If I remember correctly, my parents died in a house fire. I'm not sure what caused it, or if it even happened. I was told this information when I was five years of age." Krystal explained, taking a handful of berries and popping a few into her mouth. The sweetness of the berries caused her to smile a weak smile, but it only lasted for about a second before her face was expressionless again.

"...Wow." Alexander muttered, placing the palm of his hand on his forehead in disbelief. "Just... Wow."

"...I'm sorry that happened..." Lauren muttered, instantly feeling guilty for what she had said. Krystal nodded, accepting the girl's apology.

"But then how did you get here? As in, a commander." Yukia asked, curious.

"And how you ended up in this strange area." Alexander continued, eating another slice of nut bread.

"...It'll be a long story, and it might last until sundown or longer." Krystal said, popping an entire mouthful of berries in her mouth. After chewing and swallowing them, she spoke again, "Get comfortable, if you wish."

"Alright then." Yukia said as she dug through her stuff to fetch the sleeping bags. "And here's one for you, too, Krystal." She said as she handed a yellow, rolled up sleeping bag to her.

"...Me?" Krystal asked, pointing at herself. She carefully unwrapped the roll- with her one flesh hand -and opened it. "Are you sure it's for me?"

"Yeah. I'll explain the details later. But you should start with your story, first." Yukia insisted as she got comfortable in her sleeping bag.

Krystal crawled slowly into her sleeping bag, letting the metal arm drag on the floor. She was belly down, facing the other three in front of her.

"...This is how it all started..."

* * *

_~Flashback~_

* * *

**"**_**When I was first taken to the Pigmask Army 2.0 as a trooper, I was normal. No weird arm to be found, considering I was only five months. The chimera troop had a commander before me, who I'd like to say is my mentor and my caretaker. Her name was Alice. Alice 2088 was her full, given name."**_

_A teenager stood in the hallways of the soon-to-be Pigmask Army headquarters. Her bright orange hair was in a high ponytail, but it wasn't very long anyway. Her bangs slightly covered one of her hazel eyes, but not entirely. She turned to face a pigmask that was rushing with a small child in their hands, an infant no more than five months. She crossed her arms and questioned the pigmask ensign, but after getting what she needed from them, she picked up the infant child and carried her away._

_Carefully, she placed the infant on one of the beds that the highest members of the chimera troop were given. She wrapped the infant in some cloth she found lying around, not caring who it belonged to. However, as she looked closely at the infant, she could smell the scent of smoke on her. Scrunching her nose due to the terrible smell, she picked up the infant and took it to a different room to relieve it of such a terrible smell._

"_**Being only five months, I couldn't do much more than lay around, babbling nonsense. However, the troopers that were with Alice were the ones that taught me basic things such as walking, talking, and understanding how certain things worked. At age five I was ready to run errands for the Pigmasks."**_

_The same teenage girl, Alice, smiled as she saw the same dark haired girl run into the chimera troop's room. The black haired girl saluted her commander, looking straight ahead in a serious tone. However, she could not keep the expression for long as the taller and older ginger ruffled her neat hair slightly. The younger girl laughed as she frantically tried to fix her hair._

"_**I didn't mind running errands, but then I got somewhat tired of it. I asked Alice if I would ever be able to be a commander just like her. What she told me, I'll never forget."**_

"_Once you're old enough, you're my first pick to take my place when I retire. I know you'll do awesome things in this." Alice told her, answering the young, dark haired girl's question. "But until you're old enough, I'll be saving this seat for you. Okay?"_

"_**I don't know why, but hearing that made me very happy. The next two years came and went, and she trained me in martial arts and weaponry at age seven. I know it may seem odd, but that's apparently what they did there. But when I was seven, Alice had to go on a mission outside of the headquarters. Without her troop."**_

_Alice was packing up her things, stuffing food and weapons into separate bags and carrying them on her shoulder. The young, dark haired girl continued to ask her mentor questions about where she was going. But before her 101st question could be asked, a headset was held before her face. The sudden move silenced her as she carefully picked up the headset. She looked upwards to the sadly smiling face of Alice._

"_Sorry. I can't really tell any of my troop about this. But I'm only gonna tell you." Alice said, her sad smile remaining on her face. She knelt down to the dark haired girl's eye level, meeting her eye to eye. "I'll call you on the headset if anything happens. When I do, I want you to tell the troops to help me out. I don't care what anyone else says about it. Okay?"_

_The dark haired girl nodded, understanding fully the commands she's been given. Alice smiled at her before walking out of the room, leaving her alone._

"_**... I knew I should have never let her go on that mission. Because a few hours after she left..."**_

_The young girl remained in the no longer desolate room, watching as others passed her and asked her about her headset. She simply said it was a gift from Alice, not explaining why she was given the gift or what its purpose was. However, a few minutes after, she could hear the communication line on the other side trying to contact her headset._

"_This is trooper number 82600, reporting for-" The younger girl froze in her tracks as she heard loud coughing on the other side. She remained silent, unsure of what was going on._

"_K-Krystal." Alice spoke, calling the young girl by her name. Her voice was raspy, followed by loud coughs and wheezes. Krystal was horrified by what she heard, but she answered shakily to her commander._

"_Y-Yes?" She pressed the headset to her ear, wanting to listen to everything on the other side. She could hear a moment of silence before Alice began talking again._

"_I... I don't have much time left... This is what I want you to do, as my last wish." Alice demanded, coughing loudly. Krystal nodded, muttering a small "go on" as she listened closely._

"_You need to be the next leader of my troop. I don't care what they say. Record this message so they can hear me!" She heard Alice scream on the other side before having another hacking fit. Krystal fumbled with the buttons on the headset as she ran over to the common room. She plugged in the communication headset to the main computer, allowing Alice to be heard by everyone._

"_...Is this... On?" Alice asked, her voice getting weaker and more raspy. This immediately caught the attention of the entire troop, causing them to fall into silence._

"_Y-Yeah, it's... On." Krystal answered, speaking directly into the mic._

"_Good job, Krystal. I knew I could count on... You." Alice struggled to speak. The other troopers fell silent as they listened closely to Alice's words._

"_Listen to me, and listen well... I pass down my duties and my title as commander to Krystal. I believe she is strong enough, stronger even than me. You all must act... Under her command only, and to no one else. And I mean... No one. That... Is all... I... Ask of... You..." Alice could barely utter her words, but forced them out anyway. They could hear her breathing heavily over the mic before..._

"_**... She died while she was on the mission."**_

* * *

_~Flashback End_

* * *

Shock. That was the only word that could describe the looks on the other three's faces. Lauren's eyes were welled with tears, some even had rolled down her cheeks. Yukia's face was flushed red with anger, while Alexander simply stared in shock. Krystal looked at each of them, examining their expressions.

Burying her head into the sleeping bag, she looked away from them. "...Don't stare at me like that, please." She muttered, feeling somewhat upset. However, as she raised her hand to move her hair from her face, she felt some wetness on her own cheek.

"...Oh dear god..." Yukia muttered, wiping her own face from incoming tears. "I... Never knew..."

"How do you live like this?" Lauren asked, her voice almost a soft whimper. "Just.. How?"

"...I don't." Krystal answered simply, turning inside her sleeping bag. She closed her eyes, sighing deeply. "It's late. I think you all should get some sleep. It's already very late." She turned around, facing the opposite direction of the other three.

"..." Yukia, Lauren, and Alexander all remained silent, watching her easily fall asleep. Yukia turned to the other three, her voice now a hushed whisper.

"She's right, it is really late. I think we should just sleep... And not think about any of this until tomorrow. Right?" Yukia whispered, gaining the attention of the other two.

"I agree. We should get rest..." Alexander whispered, yawning softly. "Good night you all." He said as he plopped his head on a small pillow. Like a light, he was out.

"...Big sis... Do other people go through what Krystal does?" Lauren asked, tear streaks still present on her cheeks.

Wiping her younger sister's cheeks, Yukia replied, "...I hope not. I really do hope not." She patted her younger sister's head, allowing her to free her mind and let her sleep.

Soon, Yukia turned her head to Krystal. "Good night, Krystal." She whispered before joining the other three.

Krystal's eyes were wide open as thoughts filled her head. Most of them were about Alice and why she had to die. But one question popped into her head that bothered her most.

_Why_, exactly, were they being so _nice_ to her?

* * *

**Well. This chapter. Woo. It took me a while to get myself interesting in writing it after I was listening to a medley of MOther 3 music over and over again. Meh, it helps to listen to music, at least for me.**

**Well, I hope you liked this chapter! This explains Krystal's backstory, in case you couldn't tell by the flashback. Anyway...**

**I bid you all adieu!**

**_~V-Fanfics_  
**


	8. Chapter 7: Unfounded Revenge

__~Chapter 7: "Unfounded" Revenge~__

* * *

Dawn had finally come to kiss the skies with it's pink colors and cool climate. The birds outside of the abandoned laboratory were singing cheerfully, announcing the dawn of the new day to the world around them.

The inside of the chimera laboratory may look quite the opposite, but the happenings inside were just as cheerful... In the wrong ways.

"The worst part was that Yukia was actually blushing when he stood! Yup!" Lauren guffawed loudly, telling Krystal the story of what happened the day before. Krystal, however, didn't share the same reaction as she did.

"I don't exactly find that to be a story anyone would want to be reminded about. It isn't exactly as hilarious as you make it out to be..." Krystal said as she wiped her weary eyes. "Much less a story to be woken up about..."

"...You don't think it's funny?" Lauren asked, somewhat hurt. However, she "hid" her feelings and crossed her arms, looking away from the younger girl. "You wouldn't know funny stories if they wore a nametag and slapped you in the face."

Krystal glared slightly at the ten year old girl before her. She had only just met these people formally and she already didn't like one of them. She briefly wondered if her attitude could get any worse.

"Well, then again, you did go through tragic times..." Lauren mused, causing Krystal to intensify her glare. She knew she had thought too soon...

"Cmon, Lauren. Don't be that way. You're making her upset." Yukia said as she fixed her hair. Lauren blinked, as if she didn't know of her offensive choice of words.

"Oh. Right." Lauren muttered, tying her bow that held up a small strand of her hair. Krystal sighed angrily, trying to crawl out of her sleeping bag. Did this girl not realize she had feelings, even if she wasn't entirely human? How much ruder could she get?

"Changing the subject..." Krystal muttered angrily, sending one more death glare to the rude brunette. "You said you would tell me why you had four sleeping bags when you only had three people with you. Did someone get lost?"

"...No." Yukia answered, letting her short, side ponytail rest comfortably. Her gaze fell on Krystal as she explained. "More like we're looking for one more person."

"We're supposed to save the world because we have special PSI abilities." Lauren continued, tightening her light green bow. Contempt with how it looked, she smiled slightly. "Yukia and I have ice-based PSI attacks. PSI Icy Wind is mine, and she has PSI Icy Blade."

"I have a fire-based one, PSI Blaze." Alexander said, fixing his tux slightly as he stood. "It comes in handy when a monster attacks out of nowhere, mostly at night. Like the one we ran into yesterday, even though we saw it sometime at noon."

"Oh yeah! The pink one with the purple bat wings and the birdie on it!" Lauren exclaimed, remembering the monster. "It's mouth was huge, and the teeth were so..." She couldn't continue with the description, for it had scared her when she first saw the beast.

Krystal's eyes darted to Lauren, recognizing what she was talking about. "A bird? And a large mouth with sharp teeth?"

"...Yeah." Lauren answered, rolling up her sleeping bag.

Krystal's eyes widened in surprise. Was it...? She shook her head, turning her head away from the others. This sudden reaction caught their attention.

"...Krystal? You... Okay?" Yukia asked, stuffing her sleeping bag into a bag. She watched as Krystal slowly picked up her metal arm, the one that she couldn't pick up yesterday, and slammed it on the ground loudly. This caused them all to jump in fear.

"...The Ultimate Chimera... How I've longed to have your blood on my hands after what you did to my commander." Krystal muttered, her voice and tone becoming extremely serious. Instantly, she stood up and walked away from them, heading towards the blocked entrance.

"H-Hey! Where do you think your going without a decent weapon?-!" Yukia shouted, grabbing the girl by her arm again. However, as she did this, she felt Krystal pull on her arm forcefully. This caused Yukia to fly by her and land face first on the ground.

"Don't interrupt me. I can kill that thing without a weapon." Krystal told her, looking down on Yukia with anger. How dare she try to stop her, this was an important matter only she could deal with!

"If your commander couldn't kill it with an arsenal of weapons, what makes you think that you can kill it with nothing?-! Plus, you still need to recover from those weeks without food!" Alexander shouted, trying to talk some sense into the angry chimera girl. Fortunately for him, she wasn't as stubborn as the other two.

"..." Krystal remained silent, but then sighed. "Fine. But I will kill that damn thing eventually. And about the lack of food..." Krystal walked up to her tank where she was kept. She opened a small compartment and tapped in a quick passcode onto a keypad, moving the tank and the computer and revealing a large object that looked like a capsule. "This revitalizer should help me. That's why I'm not worried about that."

"...A revitalizer? What the hell does that do?" Yukia asked, rubbing her thankfully not broken nose and standing.

"It does exactly as the name says: Revitalize, or, to relieve a fighter's ailments." Krystal explained, opening the door and stepping inside the "revitalizer". They could hear small beeps as a warming glow emitted from the strange looking machinery. Soon, she walked out of the machine, looking completely normal.

Her hair was no longer the messy clump it was the day before, and her limbs were now close to the thickness needed in order to fight. This surprised the trio, their eyes widening.

"How come you didn't do that yesterday?" Yukia asked, curious. Krystal gave them a look that said "It was your fault for not letting me move on my own."

"Who even made this thing? It's so... Effective!" Alexander asked as he walked up to the advanced machinery. "I've never seen something so amazingly crafted and made in my life!"

"That's because you've never been outside your house in all of your life." Lauren pointed out, offending the older male.

"You know, you should quit your comebacks. They could hurt someone's feelings, like mine for example." Krystal recommended, her voice bitter.

"Oh, you have feelings?" Lauren asked. "I thought you were a mindless robot who followed blindly in her creator's-"

"DO YOU WANT TO START SOMETHING WITH ME?-!" Krystal shouted, extremely offended and angry with the young brunette girl before her. Her voice rang through the one-room laboratory, scaring the trio of heroes.

"That was way too far. I know you were kidding, but seriously." Yukia said, upset with her little sister's behavior. "Of course she has feelings. She's human like you and me, you idiot!"

"...Sorry." Lauren apologized, feeling guilty for her actions. Krystal sighed, not sure whether she should accept the apology or not.

"I'll think about it." Krystal responded, sighing. "Now, I'd better get into more... fitting clothing. I do plan to leave here after contacting my troops."

"You're gonna contact them? How?" Yukia asked, curious. Krystal walked over to her tank and walked to the side of the large computer. She turned a small doorknob which opened a door to some sort of locker. Inside were her clothing, which consisted of her dark grey skirt, light blue turtleneck, black cape, arm cannon, and headset.

"These scientists are the stupidest ones I've ever met in my life." Krystal muttered, laughing to herself as she took out the clothing. After taking the clothes, she walked off into the darker area of the lab, so she wouldn't be seen. "I'm going to change really quickly, so feel free to go on ahead."

"We'll go see if we can melt the ice at the doorway, if it hasn't already melted." Alexander told her before she was completely unseen by darkness. He beckoned the girls to come follow him as he walked to the frozen doorway.

Sure enough, it was still frozen.

"Oh come on." Alexander hissed angrily at the ice. It hadn't even melted a single bit!

"Well, we could always try brute force..." Lauren said, tapping on the cold ice. However, she was reminded of the chimera's failure to break it. "...Oh. Right."

"Yeah. Let me handle this." Alexander said as he cracked his knuckles. Removing a silk glove, he pressed his hand on the cold ice. "PSI Blaze Alpha!" He shouted, his mind commanding fire to burn brightly over his hand. The heat of the fire began to melt the ice... But it was going much too slowly.

"Ugh, why can't it go any faster?" Yukia complained, kicking the ice block. Seconds later, she grabbed her foot in pain. "Big mistake..." She muttered as she held her foot in her hand.

"Stand back, I've got this."

As soon as those words were uttered, Alexander turned behind him. Krystal, in her normal uniform, stood behind him. She had her arm cannon attached to her metal arm which was aimed at the ice in front of him. Her headset was placed over her left ear, with a small, green, slidable glass thing over her left eye. She began to charge up the cannon...

"G-Gah!" Alexander shouted as he ducked away from the incoming attack. A large, blue fireball-like blast was shot at the ice, and once it came into contact, the ice was smashed to pieces instantly.

"W-Woah!" Yukia gaped in awe at the sheer power of her attack. Krystal blew into her cannon, detaching it from her arm and holding it under her arm.

"Problem solved." Krystal said as she smirked proudly. She loved being able to use her arm cannon, but didn't like having to lug it around on her arm. "Now I'll just contact my troops before we all leave. You're welcome to see them if you wish, you did save my life after all."

"Sure, I guess...?" Lauren answered, slightly unsure of her choice. The trio of heroes followed the young commander to what seemed to be the center of the hallway.

Krystal pressed a few buttons on her headset and the glass that was over her left eye began to shine a light green. Soon, a large screen lowered itself, as if on command. As soon as it stopped, a small image of an "..." appeared, but was soon replaced by the image of a young man.

"Troop number 74640 reporting, what's your-" The young man began, but instantly stopped as soon as he could see his commander. "C-Commander! You're... You're not dead!"

"Scientists can't kill me, Oliver. Nor can liquid-filled tanks. But you can thank these three for the help." Krystal pointed to the three heroes that stood behind her. They simply smiled and waved, but then...

They recognized who he was.

It was the same boy that they met while trying to escape Golden Gate. His light orange hair and green eyes were easily recognizable, as well as his spiky hair that always pointed to one side no matter what. He blinked, also dumbfounded.

"But ma'am, weren't we assigned to kill them on sight?" Oliver asked, pointing at the three in the back. Krystal shook her head.

"No. Well, we were, but now I refuse to take orders from 'Master' Porky any longer." Krystal said sternly. This caused Oliver's eyes to open wide in shock and surprise.

"A-Are you serious?" He asked, not believing his ears. "You're going to betray Master Porky?"

"I'm more serious than ever, Oliver. You know how much I hate him after what happened to Commander Alice." Krystal said, crossing her arms. This made the trio look at one another. She hated Porky? Then why was she serving him?

"I know that. Most of us here do. With the exception of, you know, Emily and Audrey and a few others." Oliver said, counting the amount of people on his fingers. "But what do you-"

"Get this conversation on the main common room screen. I want to tell everyone something right now." Krystal ordered. With that, Oliver saluted her and did as she was told, connecting the her headset to the main common room screen.

"You're on. Everyone can see you." Oliver said, talking into the mic.

"Thank you, Oliver." Krystal said. She stared sternly at the screen, her expression unchanging. "Chimera troop. I want you to listen closely to me."

"Yes ma'am!" They all saluted at once. Some were smiling, while others were still intimidated. Most of them were extremely shocked to see their commander alive and well.

"I want a select few of you to report to the old chimera laboratory, which is where I am right now. We're going to destroy this place as soon as possible." Krystal ordered. "Oliver, Charlie, Connor, and Hilary are to report here as soon as possible. I expect to see you here with the proper weaponry and items. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" The selected troops exclaimed as they saluted. Oliver gave her a quick smile before running out with the others to get the needed supplies.

"As for the rest of you, pretend as though I have passed on. I do not need Master Porky knowing of my status." Krystal ordered. They all nodded, obeying their commander with extreme loyalty.

"Wow... She really knows how to command an army." Lauren whispered to her older sister. Yukia nodded in response, amazed at how well she trained her troops.

"That is all. This is the last you'll be hearing from me for a long time." Krystal stated, sighing sadly. "I'll miss all of you."

"We will too!" A younger troop shouted, jumping up and down. The others began to murmur and nod, feeling the same. Krystal smiled warmly, turning off the communication system. She turned to the trio and smirked.

"What are you all standing there waiting for? We need to head out of here as soon as possible!" Krystal exclaimed, turning sharply and walking to the doorway that led to the outside world. Excited to finally leave the laboratory, the other three followed her.

What they saw outside could never have made them feel more fear.

It was about 200 pigmask soldiers. Standing, almost as if they had been waiting since the night before. Many were ensigns, others were captains, majors, even five or six colonels stood before the four children. Most of them were armed and ready to kill. But what made Krystal fume the most...

Was the Ultimate Chimera, standing right before them.

"W-What the HELL?-!" Yukia shouted, surprise and anger filling her mind. "What is this?-!"

"An ambush? Was this planned?" Alexander asked, taken aback by the amount of soldiers there were. "And THAT _THING_, TOO?-!" He pointed at the Ultimate Chimera standing just a few feet away from Krystal.

"Did you set this up, Krystal?" Lauren asked, walking up behind Krystal. She was almost as angry as her sister.

"Why would I if I'm planning a rebellion? Think for a second, won't you?" Krystal said as she attached her arm cannon to her metal arm, making sure it fit tightly. "How did you know we were here?"

"Simple." A pigmask colonel answered from the front. He stepped before the other pigmasks to reveal who was speaking. "When your were awakened, a signal reached our main communications building. We blocked off the signal to your little troops to make sure they wouldn't try and help you."

"No wonder they got here so quickly. This place is about a day's walk away from the main headquarters." Krystal muttered to herself, charging up her arm cannon's powerful shot. However, she smirked to herself. "But for those like us... It's only about a few minutes away."

"What do you mean?" Yukia asked. "It took us about a week or so to get here. Maybe two weeks..."

"Not you three. I'm talking about my troops." Krystal muttered, rolling her eyes. However, before she could say anything else...

The Ultimate Chimera attacked at a ridiculous speed.

"LOOK OUT!" Yukia screamed as she jumped to the side. Alexander simply ran to a different location while Lauren and Krystal remained standing in front of it.

"W-Wah!-! I don't know where-" Lauren began, but was interrupted as soon as Krystal pushed her out of the way. She, once again, did a face plant on the grassy floor below her.

"HYA!" Krystal shouted as she jumped over the raging Chimera. She observed the creature's back, looking for the off button.

...It wasn't there...

Krystal landed behind the Chimera, turning and aiming her arm cannon at the beast. However, before she could so much as attack, she felt it ram into her forcefully. This powerful attack caused her to land on the ground with a painful cry.

"Krystal!" Yukia shouted, watching the whole ordeal. She began to sprint at the monster, preparing her special PSI move. "PSI-"

"Stay out of this!" Krystal shouted angrily, getting back upon her feet. She once more aimed the arm cannon at the beast. This time, a huge blast of power was fired at the chimera, hitting it with full force. The Ultimate Chimera was shot back forcefully, taking plenty of damage.

"What is she thinking? She'll die at this rate!" Alexander exclaimed, taking off both silk gloves and preparing an attack. However, Krystal glared at him, not wanting him to get involved with this fight.

"That's it! If you're not wanting to die, then I'll force you to!" Krystal shouted, averting her gaze back to the Ultimate Chimera. She detached her arm cannon, throwing it elsewhere. The Ultimate Chimera prepared to charge at her again, its large mouth opening wide to swallow the girl whole.

She extended two fingers on each hand, but one was placed on the temple of her head. She began to focus, and with a shout, her special ability was unleashed.

"PSI Code Beta!" Krystal shouted, extending both arms in front of her. Soon enough, large, shiny, light blue blades protruded from her arms. Their tips were lined with 1's and 0's, and the blades themselves shone with brilliance.

"W-What did she just say?-!" Yukia exclaimed, not believing her ears. Alexander was gaping wide, looking at how deadly the blades looked.

"She just said... PSI Code..." Lauren muttered, taken aback in complete shock. She never thought that someone so young could be able to control a move that appeared to have so much power...

"Penetrate: Steel, iron, glass." Krystal muttered, almost as if she was giving commands to the blades themselves. As the Ultimate Chimera charged forward, Krystal raised her arms high into the air "HYA!" She threw down her arms swiftly, delivering a one-hit KO to the Ultimate Chimera. The attack had split the creature into two, letting the thing divide as its halves still flew behind Krystal. However...

They all could see the robotic parts inside the false chimera.

Krystal's hand blades had disappeared into lines of code that broke down instantly. She watched as the mechanical parts of the false chimera began to whirr and slow down to a complete stop.

"W-What? But how?-!" One of the pigmasks shouted. Others began to squeal in fear at the sight of the commander.

"R-Retreat! She'll *oink* kill us all!" One of the colonels screamed as he ran away, others following him. However, something was blocking their way.

Or more like someone.

"We're here, and not a minute late!" Oliver shouted, loading up his dual arm cannons with ammo. "You're dead now, little piggies! The big bad wolf's here to dine on some pork!"

"Oh shut up, will you?" Hilary, a girl with medium length dirty blonde hair and brown eyes, complained. "Your stupid quotes won't help us win anything."

"You're only jealous because Krystal favors me and my quotes over you and your stupid poetry." Oliver pointed out, sticking his tongue out at the other girl. She only rolled her eyes as she got out her sprinting bomb launcher and began firing at running pigmasks.

"Good timing, you guys." Krystal said as she attached her arm cannon back on. She turned to the trio of heroes, beckoning for them to follow. "Come on, we've got some pigmasks to pulverize."

The trio looked at one another, debating on whether they should go along. A thought popped into their minds: Since Krystal would have to join the three of them to complete their task, they _should_ join her for this battle... Each of them nodded at one another, then at Krystal.

"Good. Now, let's get started, shall we?" Krystal asked as she charged another shot from her cannon. She had already begun to run ahead of the other four, leaving them to eat her dust. But that wouldn't last for long.

"Come on, guys! You heard the commander! Let's kick ass and eat nut bread!" Yukia shouted as she punched her open palm, psychic energy pulsating from her fist. "And we're all out of nut bread."

"Are we really?-!" Lauren exclaimed, worried about their stock on items.

"No. It was just a saying. Now lets kick some pigmask butt, shall we?" Alexander exclaimed as he dashed off into battle, following behind Krystal.

"H-Hey! That's what I said!" Yukia shouted angrily as she ran after Alexander.

"Hilary, deal with the Captains! Charlie and Connor, deal with all the Ensigns! Oliver and I will take on the Majors and Colonels!" Krystal ordered as she continued to run. She fired a long range shot at a bunch of camping Majors that were hiding behind trees. Two or three of them, Krystal couldn't tell, fell to the ground dead.

"Yes ma'am!" Hilary, Connor, and Charlie saluted as they too ran to chase after their assigned targets. Oliver simply smirked, he knew that if an unbeatable team existed, it would be the team of him and Krystal.

"Right behind you, Krystal." Oliver said, engaging in back-to-back combat against the enemy. Krystal began to fire shots at incoming colonels, injuring a few and killing others in one shot. What weaklings, especially this generation.

"Do you need any help from us, Krystal?" Yukia asked, generating psychic power in her balled up fist. Krystal nodded, tilting her head and gesturing to a few other pigmasks that were running towards them.

"Think about yourselves before me, idiots!" Krystal reminded them, firing a few shots at some other pigmask Majors and Colonels. As she did this, Oliver was on her back, firing ammo at other pigmasks that were trying to sneak up from the side and, foolishly, from behind.

"Okay then. No need to be so kind." Yukia said, putting emphasis on "kind". She and the other three heroes ran off to kill a few more pigmasks.

"PSI Icy Wind Alpha!" Lauren shouted, extending her arms before her in an X shape. This caused winds to collapse upon one another, not letting any pigmask escape from her deadly attack.

"PSI Icy Blade Beta!" Yukia shouted, raising her arms, commanding blades to sprout from the ground, all made of the crystal-like icicles. Their tips tore through the flesh and cloth of many pigmasks, killing a few and injuring others. Only very few of them were able to evade the attack with minimal cuts and scratches.

"PSI Blaze Alpha!" Alexander exclaimed as he extended his uncovered hands before him, commanding the heated red and orange flames to blast from his hands. They danced along the grass as they made their way to unlucky pigmasks, killing several and severely burning others.

"Woah! Those attacks are awesome! How come we can't have those?" Connor, a blonde haired and hazel eyed boy, asked his fellow troops.

"Krystal's the only one who has... What did they call it..? Oh! PSI attacks. I'm pretty sure of that." Charlie, a ginger boy with grey eyes and many, many freckles, answered, hitting a few pigmask ensigns with his giant, iron hammer. He was aiming to crush a skull or two, considering he really hated pigmasks for what they did to their commander, Krystal.

"You idiots. Those three ALSO have PSI. Didn't you just hear them call out their attacks?" Hilary shouted, angry at the boys' unintelligence. Both of them shrunk slightly at their comrade's harshness.

"Hilary, calm down and focus on the task our commander gave you, damnit!" Oliver shouted, gunning down a few more pigmasks before a few others surrendered.

"Thank you for talking some sense into her, Oliver." Krystal thanked her right-hand-chimera as she watched a few more pigmasks surrender. "She needed that-"

"Shut up, Oliver! You wouldn't know our commander's orders if they slapped you in the face with a nametag!" Hilary argued back. Krystal simply facepalmed, thinking about reconsidering her position choices. However, she let those thoughts remain in the back of her head as she observed a few other pigmasks retreating and surrendering.

"Looks like they're giving up on the attack." Yukia said, ceasing her continuous psychic attacks. "That's good. I'm almost out of power."

"I still have plenty, but I'd better keep it for later use." Lauren said, lowering her arms and smiling widely at the ice sculptures she made with her Icy Wind attack.

"I agree. I think it's best to preserve our psychic power." Alexander said as he slid on his silk gloves with care, making sure they had no trace of dirt on them.

"So... We won?" Oliver asked, turning to face his commander. She nodded in response, detaching her arm cannon and placing it under her arm again.

"Apparently. It looks like they all surrender." Krystal answered, sighing. "I'll admit, if this fight went on any longer, I wouldn't have any psychic power left for PSI Code. Alpha or Beta."

"What is your Alpha?" Lauren asked, curious.

"The cannon shots." Krystal answered, fiddling around with said cannon that was under her arm. "My cannons don't pack ammo, they pack psychic-"

"Oh my, looks like I got to the party a bit too late, didn't I?"

The group of children widened their eyes. Who was speaking? It sounded female, and not very old either. However, Krystal, Oliver, Charlie, Connor, and Hilary all recognized the voice. The children's heads turned sharply to the voice that spoke.

There stood a familiar genetically altered, white-haired, and yellow-eyed trooper, Emily.

She stood with a certain intensity, her superiority oozing from her garb and facial expression. Her attire consisted of a white, fur jacket. A short-ish yellow skirt hung slightly above the knee, but not too far up her legs. Her boots were white and high-heeled, but she still didn't trip over them. A long, white cape flowed in the breeze as she approached the heroes and her fellow comrades.

"...What is the meaning of this...?" Krystal muttered, not believing her eyes. Why was one of her own troops standing right before her in such garb?

"What the hell...?" Oliver muttered to himself, lowering his arm cannons. "What is she doing here? Dressed in that stupid getup no less."

Emily smirked, watching the reactions of the other chimeras. "Why wouldn't I be here? I'm part of the troop's best, aren't I?"

"I specifically said that only these troops," Krystal said sternly as she pointed to the others that had accompanied her, "could join the fight. I want an explaination as to why you're here."

"Pah. Why should I follow orders from a has-been like you? Especially when I'm the new second in command!" Emily laughed aloud, her ego rising by the second.

"WHAT?-!" Krystal shouted, feeling her blood boil. She turned to her other troops, expecting an explaination from them.

"...It's true. She became the newest commander after you were put into the old chimera lab." Oliver answered, not daring to look at his commander. He hated lying, especially to her. But he mustered up the courage to continue. "She was even upgraded in a way that made her almost unbeatable. The training you went through, she went through it in about two weeks."

"What kind of training is it?" Lauren asked, curious to know. However, from the looks passed between the chimeras, she could tell that it wasn't easy in the slightest.

"As you can tell, I have surpassed you in almost every way." Emily continued, a smirk still plastered on her face. However, as she continued her speech, her smirk slowly disappeared. "The only way I couldn't surpass you is the closeness between you and your- I mean my troops. But soon, I will surpass you in that area as well!"

"You'll never do that. Treason isn't a way to gain power and ability!" Oliver shouted, his veins popping. "You could never surpass Krystal!"

"...If you strongly believe so..." Emily muttered as she snapped her fingers, her metallic hand stretched out. Out of the bushes, an injured and burned pigmask brought over her attachable arm cannon, which was about twice the size of Krystal's with a rapid fire attachment. "Then what do you say Krystal and I have a battle. To see who's stronger."

Oliver was prepared to answer "no" for Krystal's sake, since he knew that she wouldn't stand a chance against Emily. However, Krystal stepped in front of him, her anger rising to it's peak. "You're on, I'm not holding back!"

"B-But what about your PP?" Yukia asked, somewhat worried. "You said that you were low on PP already, don't make this fight any worse for you!"

"Then hand me something to recover PP!" Krystal shouted, irritated by the others' lack of assistance. Jumping in surprise, the three searched through their bags for something that could recover PP.

"Here. Just to even out the tables and show you how strong I really am, take this magic cake I brought from headquarters." Emily said as she rolled her eyes, throwing the magic cake to Krystal. Quickly, she caught the flying cake, eyeing closely.

"You sure about this, Krystal?" Oliver asked, worried for his ex-commander. However, she smirked at him, showing him her confidence in her own sheer strength.

"One doesn't simply go through commander training in a week, Oliver." Krystal muttered as she ate some magic cake. Instantly, she could feel power rush through her. She was ready to take this traitor down.

"You done yet? I may be patient, but I'm not that patient." Emily spoke, narrowing her eyes at the other chimera girl.

Smirking, Krystal threw down her arms, letting the shimmering blades extend from her hands again. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Emily. Now I'm properly prepared."

"Good." Emily smirked as she walked up to Krystal, engaging in battle. The others that remained behind Krystal backed away, not wanting to get into a fight they'd probably lose.

"PSI CODE BETA!" Krystal shouted as she ran up to Emily, preparing an attack. However, as she jumped upwards to slice at her, Emily quickly jumped back, evading the attack.

"Is this all you've got, Krystal? I thought the commander I served countless months over was strong and brave, killing all who stood in her way like a souless soldier!" Emily taunted as she waited for an opening to strike. Quickly, she threw away her cape and aimed her arm cannon at Krystal, shooting her with rapid fire.

"Gah!" Krystal ducked as she heard the sound of gunfire, letting the bullets bury themselves into a tree trunk. 'That was close, way too close. I can't be this reckless in a fight with her.' She thought as she allowed the blades to desintergrate into binary code. She quickly attached her arm cannon, but she knew it wasn't enough time.

"Take this!" Emily shouted as she kicked Krystal right in the guts with a metal foot. Grunting in pain, Krystal flew back to the same tree that had bullet holes in it.

"Krystal! Hang in there!" Oliver shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth. "Don't get reckless!"

Krystal turned her head to him, nodding in complete understanding. She quickly got up, trying her very hardest to ignore the pain from the last strike. She carefully and quickly aimed her arm cannon and began charging up an attack.

"Too slow!" Emily shouted as she ran quickly towards the girl, preparing a one-hit KO punch to the face. However, her timing was a bit off when she saw Krystal shoot a half-charged shot of pure psychic energy.

"Speak for yourself." Krystal muttered as she began to charge up another cannon shot. However, she watched as Emily dodged her previous attack and landed a huge fist to the face. She could feel her whole body lurch to the side as the pain filled her cheek. She landed on the ground with a large thud.

Smirking, Emily continued to taunt her further. "Just give it up. You lose, and your little chimera friends bite the dust. That's the deal."

"W-What?-! We never arranged such a deal!" Krystal shouted, her eyes wide in surprised fear. Emily hadn't mentioned any of this before, nor had she agreed to something as dangerous as this!

"If you forfeit, the same thing happens." Emily continued, her eyes narrowing in evil glee. "So you'd best keep battling or else your friends will end up fried and dead."

"You never mentioned any of this! Why should she agree to this if she just heard it now?-!" Yukia shouted, feeling her anger reach it's peak as she stepped forward. However, a silk gloved hand stopped her in her tracks.

"Don't. You know damn well what would happen if you got into this horrid fight." Alexander told her, making sure she didn't do anything stupid. Fortunately, she did nothing and stayed behind, watching the fight with the hope that Krystal would prevail.

But everyone knew the truth as well as she did.

Krystal slowly rose from the ground, wiping her face from the blood that slowly trickled from her mouth. "Some punch that was. I've faced much worse than that, Emily." Krystal muttered, recalling the event that happened at the Golden Gates Village with a small smirk on her face.

"Obviously. I'm just going easy on you." Emily replied, adjusting her metal arm carefully.

'Now's my chance!' Krystal thought to herself as she sprinted towards Emily. She detached her arm cannon and threw it elsewhere. "PSI CODE BETA!" She screamed as the long blades protruded once more from her arms. She jumped high into the air to land a deadly blow on the girl.

"You really should stop trying, you know. You'll only end up getting yourself killed!" Emily said as she turned around and kicked Krystal in the gut as she tried to land on her. This caused Krystal to cry out in pain as she was thrown back into the air.

Landing on the floor with a thud, Krystal had the wind knocked right out of her. She slowly tried to get up again, but felt a foot on her chest push her back down.

"Are you really brave enough to face me again?" Emily asked, pushing her foot down harder. "Do you really want to risk your own life? You've already put the lives of your friends on the line.

Krystal refused to speak, keeping her mouth tightly shut. Due to the foot crushing her chest, she found it extremely hard to breathe. She moved her gaze to the others that stood around the fight scene. Most of them were horrified at what they saw.

"That's what I thought." Emily said as she lifted her foot from Krystal's chest. Her smirk was wide with evil written all over it. She looked at the other chimera children. She saw them cower behind the three heroes in fear that they would be killed on the spot.

"I'm not going to kill you. I've decided to be... What's the word... Merciful." Emily muttered, crossing her arms in distaste. "...Of course, I'll only be merciful if you come out from behind those weaklings."

The three chimera children looked at Krystal, then at Oliver. Oliver sighed, walking out from behind the three heroes. "Fine."

Emily smirked again, knowing that she had won. "There's a good chimera trooper. So loyal." She said as she opened up her arms, singaling for the other chimera s to follow his actions.

"Are you sure about this, Oliver? We could just be killed for treason!" Hilary said as she watched him walk over to Emily. However, he gave her a look that said he was sure that this was the right choice.

"I guess all we can do is trust his reasoning for now, even if it means..." Connor said as he followed behind Oliver, not wanting to finish his sentence. Charlie and Hilary shared looks of worry before following in their footsteps.

"There we go. Just for this, I will be a bit more merciful and cancel your execution. I still need some strong fighters on my team." Emily said as she placed her metal hands on the shoulders of Hilary and Oliver. They flinched at the cold touch, but tried their hardest not to recoil.

Krystal slowly sat up, her head hanging in shame. She had promised herself that she would defeat Emily for her troops'- no, her friends' sake. Instead, she was the one on the floor, struggling to regain her strength and watching as her troops walked away from her.

The only difference was that she had the feeling she would meet them again.

"Now, let us go. I don't think that we have any other business to deal with here." Emily said as she put on her jet pack. Oliver and the others mimicked her actions and followed her as she took off and flew back to headquarters. Before he left, however, Oliver quickly glanced back at the group of PSI users.

"...I'm sorry." He muttered before he, too, followed Emily back to headquarters.

"..." Krystal dared not speak, for she did not want to reveal her reaction to the very recent occurences. She hung her head low, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone.

"...What a little bitch..." Yukia muttered, cursing through her teeth. These words made Lauren look at her sister, surprised that she had actually cursed aloud.

"I'll say. But she's a powerful one..." Alexander muttered, crossing his arms. Soon, his gaze fell upon the fallen ex-commander. "...You shouldn't have fought her in the first place, you know."

"Just shut up. Before I cut you into peices." Krystal muttered, clenching her empty fists in anger. After a few seconds, they were beginning to shake and turn white.

"What if we don't want to?-! You shouldn't have fought her and you know it! Now you screwed up and you're beaten! AGAIN!" Yukia yelled, angry at the youngest child's attitude. However, she was soon quieted by a small sniffling sound.

"D-Didn't I tell you t-to shut up?-! A-Are you all d-d-deaf or something?-!" Krystal exclaimed, sniffling in between her words. She used the sleeve of her cloak to wipe her wet cheek, shuddering as she tried to keep in her sobs. "Y-You have no idea what could happen to them! I was electricuted almost to death! I barely survived if it hadn't run out of power! And all I did was screw up a mission! T-They commited treason!-! A-A-And that's gravely serious!-!"

As the youngest girl continued on and on, the others gave eachother looks of worry. Even Lauren's face began to pale. They watched as Krystal's sniffling slowly greatened to soft crying. She was shuddering intensely, as if she would start sobbing any minute.

'She acts so tough and strong when she knows it's best... But when something like this happens... She goes back to being an eight year old child...' Yukia thought to herself. Sighing softly, she knelt by Krystal's shuddering form and hugged her from the side. She made sure that she was gentle, so she wouldn't hurt Krystal.

"...W-What are you doing..?" Krystal asked, looking up at Yukia. "Why are you hugging me?"

"Just shut up and calm down. You'll thank me later." Yukia said, sitting down next to Krystal. Lauren hesitated, but soon joined her by sitting on the opposing side. Alexander walked over and began to sit... But decided that it was better for him to stand. His pants were much to expensive to be dirtied by mud and dirt.

"..." Krystal remained silent, but she did eventually calm down. Her erratic breathing and sniffling slowed down to a complete stop, allowing her to breathe normally.

"There, ya see? Wasn't hard to calm down, was it?" Yukia asked, releasing her gentle grip. She made sure her moves were slow and calm, so she wouldn't accidentally touch a bruise or a bad cut.

"...I guess..." Krystal muttered as she shakily stood. She had taken quite the beating, but she did not want to lay down. She wasn't an ordinary, helpless child like others thought she was. No, she was a soldier, a commander of an army of deadly soldiers. She was not a crybaby.

And she was going to prove it. One way or another.

"So, what do we do now? We've got all four of us, but only one of us is trained in the battle arts..." Alexander said as he searched around for someone in particular. "I wonder if that strange woman will appear any time soon..."

"Ya know, this would have been a time where she would have appeared..." Yukia muttered, looking around as she stood. However, Krystal remained confused. She didn't understand what they were saying.

"'Strange woman'? What do you mean by that?" She asked, taking off her cloak to examine and treat her wounds.

"The woman who attacked you is the same woman who told us what to do. She gave us our destiny to find four heroes." Yukia explained, crossing her arms over her chest. "She told us that we needed to find a boy and a girl with PSI Blaze and PSI Code."

"A move that you happen to have." Lauren said, walking up to Krystal. "And you're a girl...Right?"

"I'm pretty sure I am female..." Krystal muttered, rolling her eyes. "But why are we needed for this destiny? Surely there are others that are much stronger than we are..."

"That is correct."

Everyone froze, hearing the strangely calm voice of a woman. However, when she approached the children, her face was kept hidden by black hooded cloak. This immediately caused Krystal to take a battle stance and attach her arm cannon.

"Woah, woah! Wait!" Yukia shouted as she held on Krystal's arm cannon. She pulled it away fromYukia, but it didn't seem to detatch. "She's the woman we told you about! She's an-"

"I don't care! She kneed me in the gut for no reason!" Krystal argued, taking aim with her cannon. But before she could attack, she saw the woman's hand touch the cannon gently.

It was made of metal.

"There's no need for violence. At least, not right now." The woman said, standing before Krystal. "And I did apologize before I attacked you."

"...I'm not sure if I should accept such a shallow apology." Krystal muttered, gritting her teeth. However, after a few seconds of silence and debate, she lowered her arm cannon. The woman seemed to grin, but her face was so obscured that it was hard to tell.

"I see that all four of you have joined together as a team." The woman said, covering her metal hand with the sleeve of the cloak. "I knew you were capable of this."

"But like I said before, there are people that are much stronger than we are. Why are we so important?" Krystal asked, detaching her arm cannon and holding it under her arm.

"There may be people stronger than you, better than you, and more prepared than you, but you can complete this destiny. However, you are still not ready yet." The woman continued, crossing her arms.

"What?-! But we did as you told us!" Yukia shouted angrily, surprised at the woman's words. The woman nodded her head.

"You did so very well, might I add. But you are still weak. You haven't unlocked your full potential." The woman said, uncrossing her arms. She then pulled something from inside the cloak. It was a large, rolled up sheet of old paper. "This should help you find what will unlock your full potential. And to find those who will help you along the way as well."

"Wait, so we have to get MORE people?-!" Lauren asked, outraged. "Do you have any idea how hard it was just to get Alexander? Don't even get me STARTED with Krystal!"

"Don't speak as if we're not around you, Lauren." Alexander and Krystal muttered in unison, both equally offended by Lauren's words. The woman chuckled, shaking her head.

"You have no idea about anything." The woman said, handing the group the large paper. "That is why I am giving you this."

"Are you implying that we're-" Lauren began, but was interrupted by Yukia covering her mouth.

"We're thankful for... Whatever that thing is." Yukia said, picking up the roll of paper. The woman nodded, turning around to leave the children.

"W-Wait! What is it that we're looking for?-!" Krystal asked, approaching the woman from behind. Suddenly, the woman stopped and turned her head slightly toward her.

"I believe it's a sunflower next to a very useful item. Don't worry, it won't be hard to miss." The woman explained before she faced forward and walked away, leaving the children alone.

* * *

**Yay a new chapter! After a few weeks of me being too lazy to write and having art homework up the arse, I FINALLY finish this chapter. I hope you guys like it! **

**_~V-Fanfics_**


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